Chun Li's Christmas Carol
by Snafu the Great
Summary: Co-written with Ted Hsu. Chun Li's workaholic lifestyle is threatening her relationship with her boyfriend and her friends. Can a trio of guardians show her the error of her ways before it is too late? Inspired by A Christmas Carol.
1. The Couple and Tara's Ghost

Chun Li's Christmas Carol

A Street Fighter Fanfiction

By The Headcrook and Ted Hsu

Legal Disclaimer: All characters from Street Fighter, Darkstalkers and Onimusha are the property of Capcom Entertainment, while the story A Christmas Carol is the property of Charles Dickens. After reading A Christmas Carol in which Ryu was the title character, I decided to switch it up: what if Chun Li was in danger of losing everyone she cared about in favor of her job? Enjoy the story.

**Chapter One: The Couple and Tara's Ghost**

Hong Kong – December 24, Christmas Eve.

Three years had passed since the conclusion of the Second World Warrior Tournament. Since then, most of the fighters had went on with their lives.

Two fighters, however, had decided to take their relationship to the next level.

The couple, a muscular Japanese man with unruly dark brown hair and dressed in a black turtleneck sweater, dark slacks and shoes and a curvaceous Chinese female with long chocolate brown hair done up in twin ox-horns – that is, twisted into twin pigtails and wrapped into twin braids on either side of her head and secured with hairpins and ribbons – clad in a white blouse which was partially concealed by the leather bomber jacket she wore over it, denim jeans and a pair of tennis shoes, strolled along the sidewalk, her arm interlinked with his own.

They were walking along the harbor path, enjoying each other's company. They had known each other since they were teenagers, but had been dating for nearly three years.

Since the conclusion of the last tournament, Ryu Hoshi and Chun Li Xiang had grown close, regardless of their long-distance relationship. Ryu had finally returned to Japan and took over the Ansatsuken Dojo, and taken on Sakura Kasugano as his pupil. Sakura was back in Japan, spending Christmas with her family.

"This is beautiful, isn't it, Ryu?" Chun Li went as she put her head on his shoulder.

"It sure is," Ryu went as he kissed her cheek. "Maybe my time with Ken, Cammy and Guile got me to appreciate Christmas more. And nothing says that more than spending it with the ones you love."

"I hope I have better luck this Christmas than I did the last two," Chun Li said. She felt nervous, even with Ryu. She tried to hope this time would be different. She was with her boyfriend, hoping to share special quality time with him. But real life had thrown major blocks in their way when they connected. "This year I want it to be special. Especially now that you're here."

"I hope it is," Ryu said as he let Chun Li snuggle up to him, knowing the last history she had these last few years. What time could be got they fought hard for, and even then that was no assurance it wasn't secured.

The romantic moment was wrecked when Chun Li's cellphone began to ring. Chun Li quickly recovered the item from her jacket pocket and checked the caller ID.

Turning to Ryu with an apologetic look, she said, "I need to take this call. It's my boss."

Ryu nodded as Chun Li activated the phone. "Inspector Xiang speaking."

"Chun Li, it's Chow," the voice said on the other end. "You're needed on the Triad case. Leung doesn't know his way around it if you gave him a road map and a compass."

Chun Li sighed. Lieutenant Chow had a lot of people around, and it just so happened she was the best in the branch. "Are there any others who could do it?" she asked, hearing in her mind the other shoe proverbially falling.

"None who could get the results needed in the window we're given. I've run through the list," Chow replied. "I need the best in Hong Kong as soon as I can get her to help."

"I'll get on it right away, sir," Chun Li replied. "I'll start first thing the day after Christmas."

"No, Xiang. You start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Chun Li repeated, in shock. "But tomorrow's Christmas. I'm spending it with friends and family."

"And you're needed on this case," Chow insisted. "You know the case better than Leung and if you close this case by the end of the week, then you'll earn that three-week vacation that you requested, with whatever else I can get for you depending on how well you do on it." When it looked like Chun Li was going to argue, Chow added, "Remember that I am still your superior and that this is not negotiable."

Chun Li sighed. "Yes, sir." She ended the call.

When she turned around, she immediately noticed the frown on Ryu's face. "You're working on Christmas again?" he asked. The way he said it was more of a statement rather than a question.

For the past two Christmases, Chun Li had worked through them. She had made it up with Ryu (and as she might say "and then some more"), but even his patience was wearing thin. Even though he did not actually celebrate Christmas, he believed in taking some time off from picking fights from various warriors in order to spend time with Chun Li.

And for the last two Christmases, Ryu was alone, while Chun Li was at work. Ryu knew that Chun Li loved her job at Interpol, but she was starting to become a total workaholic. Even though he supported her, the strain on his tolerance was starting to show.

Chun Li gave Ryu a apologetic look. "I'm sorry Ryu. My boss needs my help on this case involving some nasty Chinese Triads."

"Of course," Ryu replied. "Whenever there is trouble, call Chun Li Xiang. The best Interpol agent in Asia."

Chun Li frowned as she felt the sarcasm in that remark. "That was uncalled for, Ryu, even from you. All those times you chose to train and fight I said nothing about it. Why are you so upset about me working on a case?"

"It's not the case, Li," Ryu replied. "You're working on Christmas Day. You promised me that you were going to be my date for the Christmas party that Masters is holding. I've been going alone for the past two years."

"I'm sorry, Ryu. Really, I am. But Lieutenant Chow is my boss, and whatever he says, goes. I promise that I'll make it up to you later on. He promised me a nice long vacation once this case is closed, and then some."

"It's just not the same, Li," Ryu said, anger evident in his voice. "I came to Hong Kong to spend Christmas with the woman I love – you. But it's clear to me you love your job even more. You want to work on Christmas instead of spending time with me? Fine. Have fun at work tomorrow, Inspector Xiang," he finished, pronouncing her title with dripping sarcasm.

He turned and stalked off, leaving a fuming Chun Li behind.

'Damn it, why doesn't he understand?!' she thought darkly. Chun Li knew it wasn't easy being a cop in a relationship with those outside Interpol, or even with other folks in law enforcement. She knew it hurt her when she had to work, even if Lieutenant Chow made good on those promises in spades. With the results the Hong Kong branch got, which were the best and highest in Interpol, Chow could do anything he damn well pleased.

She also hadn't liked working those Christmases, either. But it was a necessary evil needed to end the nightmare that evil everywhere possessed.

It had been a driving goal for her since Dourai died at Bison's hands, and after she and Guile saved Ryu from Bison's backstabbing treachery at the Second Street Fighter Tournament.

Bison was a sore loser, and decided to make an example of Ryu. Only intervention from Guile and Chun Li had saved Ryu that day.

She hadn't wanted to lie to Ryu, but Chow had made it so that she had no other choice.

She was now pissed as the romantic mood had a fork and knife driven through it.

'Maybe I can get started on this,' she thought as she headed to the offices of Interpol. 'Maybe I can still make the party yet with Ryu.'

* * *

Ryu was steaming. He had been warned that being involved with someone in the military or in law enforcement had sacrifices that needed to be made, and even then they might not get any reimbursement for it.

'Damn her boss,' Ryu thought darkly. 'She always told me he put her on cases on Christmas. But it's not the same, even if she makes it up to me and then some. Christmas is supposed to be special, and her job makes it hard for her to see that.' Ryu closed his eyes as he clenched his jaw. 'I was hoping to give her a special Christmas present too, but now I'm not sure if I want to.'

Ever since the last Tournament, Chun Li's star and stock had been taking off like a rocket. She had become the best in Interpol's Hong Kong branch and one of the "go-to people" when the best were needed.

But even a "go-to person" needs time off, which she wasn't willing to give up because her job demanded it.

Even with their long histories, Ryu hoped she could put her demons to rest. But one was now called "work" and he feared it might be the death of her.

'I can't take it anymore,' he thought darkly. 'I can't give my life to her if she's not willing to give up even a day of hers no matter what the reason. This is going to be the third Christmas it will happen to me...and the last one, one way or another.'

* * *

Following the near-explosive confrontation with Ryu, Chun Li decided not to go back home.

Instead, she went to her job, located in downtown Hong Kong. Ever since the last tournament, she was promoted from Detective to Inspector, the youngest in the history of the International Criminal Police Organization given her role in Shadowlaw's destruction.

The building that housed the Hong Kong offices of Interpol was a simple unmarked six-story building complete with a underground parking garage, the building only accessible by identification card and badge.

Aside from the main offices, the building also housed a firing range, several conference rooms, a training area, and a workout room. Currently, Chun Li Xiang was in the former, venting out her frustrations on her second paper target. With the exception of the gun bunny cleaning out the guns, Chun Li alone, unloading her third clip into the paper target, reducing it to Swiss cheese.

Even after venting her frustrations out on the firing range, she wasn't satisfied. She left the firing range and took the elevator to the fourth floor, where her office was located.

Being an Inspector had its perks. One of which was that she had her own private office, located inside the squad room. Chun Li entered her office, looking at the mountain of paperwork that was on her desk, and frowned.

Her boss, a paper-pushing bureaucrat by the name of Chow, had ordered her to work on a case involving the Chinese Triads. He was also the main reason as to why Chun Li missed the last two Christmases with Ryu, and possibly, a third if this keeps up.

She sighed as she sat down at her desk. 'It's days like this I wished I was still working in the field,' she thought.

Even though she was no longer a field operative, she found joy in her work as one of Interpol's finest. Unlike Chow, who was a complete and total blowhard, she commanded the respect and admiration of her peers. Her actions during the last Street Fighter tournament had boosted her popularity.

She loved working for Interpol. Despite the occasional mountains of paperwork, Chun Li enjoyed her job. Even though she was no longer a field agent, she also enjoyed training the new recruits in marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, which were part of her duties as Inspector.

The squad room was nearly empty, since most of the agents were at home for the Christmas holiday. One of the agents was going over his report while eating leftover ramen, his radio blaring out Christmas music in Chinese. Chun Li leaned back in her chair, hands behind the back of her head, thinking about her confrontation with Ryu.

'We've been through this already,' she thought as she looked at the ceiling. 'I didn't say anything to him when he was picking fights with fighters all over the world. So why is he so worked up about spending Christmas with me? It's just another day. He'll understand. I'll make it up to him.'

She turned from the ceiling and looked at the pictures on her desk. One was of her father and herself when she had won her first junior martial arts tournament at fifteen. The second was that of herself and her former partner. The woman in the picture was a combination of Chinese and Ukrainian ancestry, with short dark hair and lively brown eyes and a curvaceous frame.

Tara Chen was Chun Li's first – and last – partner. She was older than Chun Li, a ten-year veteran of the I.C.P.O. Most people said that she looked like the American actress Natassia Malthe. But that wasn't the case. Tara had taken Chun Li under her wing when she first started in Interpol, showing her the ropes. As a result, Chun Li grew to deeply admire and respect the older woman.

Ironically, the day before, it was the anniversary of her death.

Tara was killed in the line of duty, a casualty in the war against crime two years earlier. She had been a liaison to the Hong Kong Police Department and was participating in a raid on a drug house. Chun Li was away at the time, visiting the Paris world headquarters, attending a law enforcement seminar there when she received the news of Tara's death.

She returned just in time for the funeral.

Chun Li felt her eyelids getting heavy. Yawning, she realized that she had been awake since six in the morning, buying gifts for Gen, Yun and Yang, not to mention meeting Ryu at the airport and spending the day together.

Before she knew it, Chun Li had dozed off, her head slumping forward.

* * *

By the time Chun Li had woken up some two hours later, the remaining agent was gone. It was late at night, but the offices were safe, since no one could enter without an ID card and even those were hard to copy by the world's best forgers.

Looking at her watch, she saw that it was almost 11 p.m. Yawning to herself, she decided to head back to her apartment, where she could get some sleep and prepare for the following day.

As she closed up shop, in the back of her mind, she sensed that something was very wrong. It was as if something was out of place, but she could not put her hand on it.

Walking out to the main corridor, Chun Li poked her head out, hand at her side. Then she mentally cursed as she realized that she had left her gun at home. Looking to the left and the right, she saw that the hall was deserted.

'Hmm...I must have been working myself too hard,' she thought as she stuck her head back in the office.

When she turned around, she found herself face-to-face with the person she least expected. A woman, with short dark hair, dressed smartly in her Interpol uniform.

Chun Li was looking into the face of her deceased partner.

"Boo." Tara deadpanned.

"WAAHHH!" Chun Li screamed as she retreated to her office. After slamming the door and locking it, she turned around and sure enough, Tara was inside with her.

Before Chun Li could scream again, Tara acted. She grabbed Chun Li and tossed her into her chair.

Chun Li swallowed audibly. "T-Tara? Impossible! You're...you're..."

"Dead as a doornail?" Tara inquired.

Chun Li nodded. "I think there was something in the eggnog I drunk earlier," she muttered. "I'm talking to a ghost."

"No, there was nothing in the eggnog that Leung brought," Tara replied. "Although on occasion I've seen some people spike it for the hell of it. This is not a social visit, I'm afraid. I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"This is what, the third Christmas you got to work through now?" Tara inquired. "You're following the same path I took back when I was alive."

"What do you mean 'the same path?' You were one of the best agents."

Tara smiled sadly. "True, but the price I paid was too damn high." She sat down in the chair in front of Chun Li's desk. "There are some things you don't know about me, Li. One of which was I had a fiancé back in Macao. However, I was placing my job before him and one day, I found him in bed with another woman, three weeks before our wedding day."

"I...I didn't know," Chun Li said. "You never told anybody about that?"

Tara shook her head. "No one knew. Not even after I pistol-whipped both him and the other woman. As a result of that, I was transferred to Hong Kong. That was where I met you. You were still green, but you turned out well. But you're in danger, Chun Li. I never told anyone this, but after I came here, I threw myself into my work, hoping to bury my pain. And it worked. I did become one of the best agents. But I also alienated my closest friends and family in the process. When I died, no one cared. Not one person from my family showed up to my funeral. And now, you're in danger of walking down that same path I took."

"In danger? From what?"

"Yourself," Tara replied. "I've seen your boyfriend. The Japanese guy. He's a bit rough around the edges, but you got good taste in men. I can see he only has eyes for you. But if you work this Christmas Day, he won't be around for long."

"I've worked the last two Christmases and he didn't dump me," Chun Li pointed out. "And Chow promised me that three-week vacation next month, so I can always make it up to him."

"Dammit, Li! This is not a game!" Tara shouted, causing Chun Li to jump in her seat. "I'm trying to help you, but you're acting too damn stubborn for your own good! This job is not worth losing your boyfriend or your friends over!" She calmed down somewhat. "I hope the guardians will get through to you better than I can."

"Guardians? What guardians?"

Tara grinned. "You'll be getting a visit from three guardians tonight. First one's at one a.m. I suggest you listen to them, Li. Otherwise, you won't like the alternative. I'll see you around, kiddo."

* * *

Chun Li's eyes snapped open.

She was still inside her office. The guy who was working there was still at his desk, the empty carton tossed in the trash, the radio still blaring out Christmas songs.

She looked around. Tara was nowhere to be seen.

'I've been working too hard,' Chun Li thought. 'I think I'll go home. I should feel better once I get a good night's sleep.'

Gathering her jacket and making sure she had her car keys, Chun Li exited her office. Down the hall, and an elevator ride to the parking garage later, she approached her car, a used, but well-maintained gray Toyota Camry.

The ride from her job to her home in a quiet section of Hong Kong took about 45 minutes, given the Christmas traffic. After finding a parking space, Chun Li went inside. She said her greetings to several other tenants as she walked over to the elevator.

Her apartment was on the sixth floor, room 611. She was fortunate to grab an apartment that was already furnished, thus sparing her from looking for furniture. The apartment was small, but efficient, complete with a scenic view of the Hong Kong skyline. Her apartment consisted of a dining room, a kitchen a living room, two closets, a bathroom and a bedroom. Perfect for one person.

Chun Li locked her door and opened it. She tossed her keys on the counter and her jacket over the sofa. After making a stop in her bedroom, she entered the bathroom with a towel and several items in her hands.

The shower was refreshing, but as she allowed the water to rain down on her, Chun Li remained troubled by Tara's words.

'Myself? What does that mean? And what did Tara meant when she said that I was in danger of following the same path as she did? All I want is to become the best operative. All I want is for Baba to be proud of me.'

She cut off the shower and stepped out. After drying herself off, she gotten dressed; a blue tanktop, and a pair of panties. The last thing she slipped on was a pair of pajama pants. She dried her hair, combed it out, braided it and wrapped it in her traditional 'ox-horn' style before securing it with several hairpins.

'Regardless, that was one strange dream,' Chun Li thought as she walked into her bedroom. The Chinese martial artist climbed into the bed and set her alarm for 7:15 a.m. She tried calling Ryu at his hotel room, but she received no answer.

'Probably hanging out with Ken again,' she thought, yawning.

Slipping under the thick duvet, Chun Li turned off the lamp, allowing the darkness to engulf the room. Within minutes, Chun Li Xiang was fast asleep.

Little did she know she was going to be in for one wild night. One she will never forget.


	2. The First Guardian

**Chapter Two: The First Guardian**

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

A slender hand reached out under the mass of blankets and made several attempts to press the snooze button on her digital alarm clock. After several attempts, she knocked the offending timepiece from the nightstand, effectively turning the clock off.

Chun Li kicked of the duvet and sat up. Yawning, she kicked her legs over the bed and stood up, wearing only a tanktop and a pair of blue silk pajama pants. Following a series of stretches and throwing a couple of practice punches and kicks, she bent down to pick up her alarm clock.

'Stupid alarm clock,' she thought darkly. 'Why the hell did I set the alarm so damn early? I swear, Ryu has been rubbing off on me. I am so not a morning...' Chun Li had froze when she had seen the time on her alarm clock.

The time read 1:00 a.m.

Her head snapped up as she heard a soft ringing, followed by someone singing a chant. She recognized the chant, given her Buddhist upbringing as one who sings for the dead.

The second thought was more evident: someone was inside her apartment.

Chun Li's reaction was automatic, honed by her years in Interpol. She padded over to one corner of her room, where her shoulder holster hanged on a coat rack. Chun Li was a martial artist, but she was also pretty handy with a firearm, a crack-shot, having been ranked fourth in international competition.

Chun Li pulled out her handgun, a gift to her from both Guile and Cammy, a Heckler and Koch USP. Making sure that it was loaded and a bullet was jacked into the chamber, Chun Li exited the room, gun leveled in both hands as she followed the sound of the ringing and singing.

The source came from the living room. There was a man there. From Chun Li's perspective, the man was tall, dressed in ancient red armor. A face mask covered the top half of his face, leaving only the eyes exposed. Wild white hair was pulled into a long ponytail. The ringing came from his staff – a Buddhist stave. Chun Li took notice of the strange bronze metal gauntlet that was attached to his left arm.

Chun Li kept the gun leveled at his chest. "Don't move!" she commanded.

The man slowly stood up, literally standing over Chun Li, standing nearly six feet tall. "I mean you no harm," the man replied. "I was merely singing a song for the dead. I am a monk, after all."

Chun Li scoffed. "Monks are bald and don't wear armor. You're a warrior."

The man grunted. "How perceptive of you. I was a warrior, at one time in my former life. It was back during the Sengoku period."

"Sengoku?" Chun Li repeated. She knew about the Sengoku period. "'The Age of the Country at War.' You're Japanese."

The man nodded. Then he lashed out with his staff. The first blow knocked Chun Li's gun out of her hand, sending it clattering across the floor. He then swung the stave low in a sweeping arc, striking her legs, sending her to the floor.

"Very sloppy, Chun Li," the man said, as he removed his face mask. "In my former life as a samurai, my name was Hidemitsu Samanouske Akechi. Now, I am known as Nankobo Tenkai. I am a guardian of the past, so to speak."

"You were a samurai?" Chun Li asked as she got to her feet, mentally berating herself for being caught off guard. She didn't get no bad vibes off of Tenkai, regardless of him attacking her.

Tenkai nodded. "Yes." He sat down. "I was a samurai for the Saito clan. One day, I went _ronin_, and decided to see the world...or at least the known world outside of Japan. I traveled into China, Korea and even into Mongolia, broadening my horizons. Then I came back and got caught in Nobunaga's campaign to conquer Japan. That's how I got this," he said, gesturing to the gauntlet.

"Nobunaga Oda? The famous Japanese warlord?" Chun Li inquired. Despite having a strange man inside her apartment, her curiosity was piqued.

"One and the same," Tenkai replied. "You will never see this in the history books, but Oda died on the fields of Okehazama. I saw him take an arrow to the throat. But he was revived by shall I say...inhuman means. Long story short, I managed to finally defeat him at Honnoji Temple decades later. But enough about me. We must go. We got a lot to do and not enough time to do it in."

"Go? Go where?" Chun Li asked.

Tenkai merely smiled. "We're going to visit your past." He then tapped his stave on the floor.

* * *

Chun Li looked around. She wasn't inside her apartment. In fact, she wasn't even in Hong Kong anymore. After looking around, what she saw verified it for her.

She was standing outside an orphanage.

The orphanage was a converted hotel, with three floors, each room being able to hold six kids at a time. The British flag that flew from the flagpole showed that it was sponsored and funded by the British government.

Chun Li recognized the place immediately. Tenkai watched as her posture changed, the Chinese woman remembering things she had thought she had forgotten.

"Recognize this place?" Tenkai asked.

"I should," Chun Li replied softly, not turning around. "It's the orphanage outside of Kuala Lumpur." She sighed. "I know about my birth parents, but...I can't remember them. They died when I was three, and I was sent here."

Chun Li took notice of the single light from the third floor. "That was my room. I shared it with other orphans and abandoned children. I think out of all of the children there, I was the only Chinese girl in my age group."

Tenkai tapped his stave and in an instant, they were inside the room. Five beds were empty, the beds made. Only one had an occupant; a sad-eyed Chinese girl of four years old. Chun Li sat down on one of the beds as she watched her younger self hug her knees, rocking herself slowly.

"My real parents were freedom fighters, fighting against the rising power of the Communist government in China. Near the end of Mao's regime, they fled to Malaysia, where they had friends inside the British Consulate. They tried to flee to Hong Kong, but the risk was too great. That's where I was born."

Chun Li swallowed visibly. "They died in a fire. The orphanage was run by a agency located in Hong Kong. I stayed there until I was five." She looked at the crying girl. "That little girl was me. Hard to believe, isn't it?" She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Can we go?"

Tenkai nodded and tapped his stave on the floor.

* * *

After rubbing the blindness from her eyes, Chun Li saw that she was still inside the orphanage, save that it was now daytime.

After a moment, she spied her younger self once again, only this time, the young girl was now sporting a bandage on one arm. She was seated on a bench, watching the other kids play.

"You were always a fighter, even as a child, were you?" Tenkai asked.

Chun Li nodded. "I remember this day. I got into a fight with one of the Malay girls in my dorm. I ended up with a bruise on my arm and she ended up with a bloody nose." She smiled sardonically at the memory.

"Something else happened on this day, didn't it?" the warrior monk asked.

After a moment, Chun Li saw one of the orphanage directors talking to a Chinese man. The man was dressed in a white shirt, slacks and shoes. His hair was neatly combed back and the moustache and goatee was neatly trimmed. Chun Li recognized the man immediately.

Her foster father, Dourai Xiang.

Tenkai looked at the happy expression on her face.

"Daddy didn't tell me until later on," Chun Li admitted. "The directors had told him that I was always picking fights with the other kids, that I was withdrawn following my parents' death. I guess the directors had tried to dissuade him into adopting me. Dourai's response was 'That girl was born into this life with no advantages. I would like to see her rewarded instead of punished.'"

After a moment, Chun Li continued. "He was visiting friends in Kuala Lumpur, He came across the orphanage by chance, since a friend of his worked there. Most of the other children were Malay. No one wanted a Chinese girl as a daughter. But he did. He adopted me as his own daughter and took me to Hong Kong."

Chun Li watched as Dourai walked over to the sad little girl and took a seat on the bench. "You know, it's too pretty a day to be so unhappy," he said, trying to get a reaction from the girl. "Why so shy? Did you fall down? There's nothing to be ashamed of. Even the best stumble from time to time. What's your name?"

The little girl looked up at Dourai. "My name is Chun Li," she replied.

"Chun Li..." Dourai repeated. "'Beauty from the heart of spring.' A good, strong name. A good Chinese name."

"You're from China?"

"Hong Kong, to be precise, little one," Dourai replied. "My name is Dourai. Dourai Bo Xiang. If you want, I can take you to Hong Kong with me."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Really? You'll take me with you?"

Dourai nodded. "Of course, you'll have to call me Baba," he replied, smiling. "And I will raise you as my own daughter. What do you say, Li?"

Chun Li nodded eagerly. Anything to get away from this hellhole. And Dourai was her golden ticket to a better life.

Dourai smiled and stood up. He bent down and picked the girl up, carrying her from the courtyard.

The older Chun Li watched this scene with tears in her eyes. Tenkai noticed her expression and produced a handkerchief. Chun Li accepted it and wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she said.

"Now I see why you hold Dourai in such high regard," Tenkai noted.

Chun Li nodded. "He took me to a better life. He had no children of his own, seeing as how his wife was killed in a car accident, so he chose to adopt a child. For that, I am eternally grateful to him. It was only the two of us, but it was the best moments of my life. It was through Dourai that I managed to meet Master Gen."

"Funny you should mention that," Tenkai replied. "That's our next stop."

**TAP. **Tenkai tapped the ground with his stave.

* * *

Chun Li shook off the temporary blindness. "Give me a verbal warning next time you do that," she muttered. "I can end up going blind from you doing that."

"Sorry about that," Tenkai apologized.

Once her vision was back to normal, Chun Li saw that she was back in Hong Kong. More importantly, the Genhanten Restaurant.

The Genhanten was one of the more popular restaurant in Hong Kong. Aside from Gen being the owner of the establishment, the local Triads tend to steer clear of him. After all, trying to make a retired assassin pay protection fees was a good way to be sent to the hospital...or in some cases, the morgue.

Chun Li watched as Dourai entered the closed restaurant, with the young Chun Li in his arms. Dourai closed the door and locked it behind him.

Gen entered the dining room area, upon hearing the door open and close. He looked at Dourai and frowned. "What's this?" he asked. "You bringing home strays now?"

"Very funny, Master," Dourai said as he set Chun Li down, presenting her to the old man. "This is my daughter. I adopted her while I was in Malaysia." He then conducted the introductions. "Chun Li, this is my old martial arts teacher, Master Gen. Gen, this is Chun Li Xiang."

The young Chun Li looked at Gen for a moment before hiding behind her father's legs. "She's still a bit shy," Dourai admitted. "I'm trying to break her out of her shell."

"Nothing that a plate of house fried rice can't fix," Gen suggested.

At that, Chun Li's head poked out from Dourai's legs. "Fried rice? Where?"

Gen pointed to a seat. "Take a seat, child. I will bring some food out for you."

The young girl eagerly took a seat. Minutes later, Gen emerged from the kitchen, holding a steaming bowl of house fried rice, with an eggroll. He set the bowl down and retreated back into the kitchen. He returned with a glass of water, and a pair of chopsticks, setting the items down in front of the young girl.

As the young girl ate her food with gusto, Dourai pulled Gen to the side.

"She has a healthy appetite," Gen noted. "Where did you find her?"

"She was in an orphanage in Kuala Lumpur. No one gave her a chance, so I decided to take her in."

"How noble of you," Gen remarked dryly.

"There is another reason why I came to see you," Dourai added. "I want you to train her in martial arts. You owe me for turning a blind eye to your...previous occupation."

Gen sized the girl up. "Hmm...the child does have potential. I can sense it in her ki. You can keep your favor, Dourai. I will train her. I could use the exercise."

"Thank you."

Gen nodded and walked over to Chun Li, who was halfway through with her food. The elder man took a seat across the young girl. "Is the food to your liking?"

Chun Li nodded, mouthful of rice and eggroll. "Mm-hmm."

"I have a question for you, young Li," Gen continued. "Would you permit me in letting me teach you martial arts?"

The young girl looked at the old man, curious. "Martial arts? You know Kung Fu?"

"I know many styles, child," Gen replied sagely. "Including Wushu Kung Fu. I trained your father, after all."

Chun Li's eyes went wide. "You are willing to teach me?" she asked shyly.

Gen smiled as he countered with another question. "The question is, are you willing to learn?"

The young Chun Li nodded.

Gen's grin broadened as he patted the girl's head. "Good. Once you get settled in and get the neighborhood down, we will begin your training," the former assassin decreed. "From here on out, you will address me either as Sifu or Master. Understand?"

"Yes, Sifu," Chun Li said.

From behind her, Chun Li heard Tenkai clear his throat. "Shut your eyes, Li," he said.

Chun Li did so, just as Tenkai tapped the stave along the floor.

* * *

Looking around, she recognized the area immediately. She was in Japan, more importantly, the Ansatsuken School of Martial Arts. Breaking into a run, Chun Li ran up the stone pathway, until she reached the courtyard. Tenkai followed her at a much slower pace.

In the courtyard, was a teenage version of herself, along with a younger Ryu and Ken. The younger version of herself was perched along the courtyard wall, watching Ryu and Ken spar...or at least they were trying to. They were in truth, actually trying to impress Chun Li.

"You spent the summer here in Japan, didn't you?" Tenkai asked as stood beside Chun Li.

The Chinese martial artist nodded. "Master Gen and Gouken were friends. He talked Daddy into letting me train in Japan for the summer. That was when I met Ryu for the first time." She smiled at the memory. "I remember this very well. They were trying to impress me. Ken was a show-off, more of a ladies' man." She looked at Ryu, white headband flowing behind him as he attacked Ken. "But Ryu...we connected. Maybe it was he was an orphan too and Gouken took him in."

"You never told him about your past?" Tenkai asked.

Chun Li shook her head.

Tenkai looked around the place. He took notice of the massive mountain palace that shadowed the training grounds and dojo. "Funny. I never noticed how Suzaku Castle looked a lot like Inabayama Castle."

Chun Li looked at the guardian. "What?"

Tenkai waved her off. "Nothing. Just thinking about something from my own past."

The Chinese fighter shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

Ken, in the meantime, assumed the crane kick position – hands outstretched in a modified Y, one knee raised, standing on his tiptoe. "What do you think, Ryu?" he asked. "I learned this from a movie."

"Like I'm gonna let you get me with that move," Ryu retorted.

"You're right," Ken replied. "I'll just use this on you!"

With that, he tackled Ryu. Putting the Japanese teenager in a headlock, he proceeded to give him a noogie, grinding his knuckles into Ryu's head. "Ha-ha! Too slow, Hoshi! Wooga-wooga-wooga."

"Get...off…me!" Ryu shouted as he did the only thing he could to get Ken to let him go. He tossed him. Ken flipped out of the throw. "You accusing me of slumping off, pretty boy?"

Chun Li watched as her younger self hopped down from the wall to intervene. "That's enough, you two. I don't want to explain to Master Gouken why his two disciples were hurt in their attempts to impress me."

Ken smirked at Ryu and walked off. "Whatever. I'll be at the waterfall."

"Sometimes, I wonder why I put up with him," Ryu groused, arms folded across his chest. "At least he isn't as annoying as Dan Hibiki."

"I think he's okay," Chun Li replied.

Ryu turned to her and grinned. "I know. You're not coming to Thailand for this tournament?"

Chun Li shook her head. "As much as I want to, Daddy and Sifu are dead set in not letting me go. Besides, I heard that the tournament champion is some Muay Thai kickboxer. Are you sure you're strong enough to beat him?"

Ryu puffed out his chest in a overly macho manner. "I can take on anybody, anytime, anywhere. I'm gonna be the strongest fighter in the world."

"Oh yeah?" Chun Li replied, rising to the challenge. "I'm gonna be the strongest woman in the world!"

"Well, if it means anything," Ryu said, "You're the strongest girl I know."

That comment made Chun Li blush. "Really?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah. And cute too."

"Thanks. That really means a lot, coming from you."

Ryu gently grabbed her hand. "Come on. I'll buy you some ice cream in town."

The real Chun Li watched as both herself and Ryu walked towards the dojo. Tenkai caught the look on her face. "A yen for your thoughts?" he asked.

"We were so happy back then," Chun Li replied. A sad smile crept across her face. "We were just kids back then, full of hot air, acting like we all has something to prove."

"So what happened?" Tenkai asked.

"Bison and Akuma. Gouken was murdered by his own brother and my father was killed by that monster. Ryu avenged his father figure and went on to defeat Bison in the second tournament. But it was Guile and myself that dealt the death blow on Bison when he tried to attack Ryu from behind." She sighed. "I never was one to remember the past. I just avoided it entirely, since parts of it were too painful. I've been running from it for so long."

**WHACK.** Tenkai smacked Chun Li on the back of her head with his stave.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" Chun Li demanded, wincing from the pain.

"It's in the past," Tenkai replied. "So why cry over it?

"Because it still hurts thinking about it."

Tenkai nodded. "So true. The past does hurt. In some cases, from experience, it can eat you alive if you dwell on the bad rather than the good. However, you have two choices in the matter: learn from your mistakes..or keep running."

To make his point, Tenkai took another swing at Chun Li. This time, she ducked.

Tenkai smiled. "You see? You're learning." His smile then faltered. "Come, Chun Li. My time is up. It's time to go."

"Wait! Why are you showing me all of this?" Chun Li asked, stopping Tenkai from tapping the ground with his stave.

"To remind you of who you are, and of the person you became," Tenkai replied. "Remember your past, Chun Li Xiang. Otherwise, the path you are taking can very well destroy you."

He then tapped the ground three times.

Chun Li's vision then exploded in a flash of white.

A.N.: Yeah, I stuck references from The Lion King and Memoirs of a Geisha into the story. Sue me.


	3. The Second Guardian

**Chapter Three: The Second Guardian**

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Chun Li's eyes snapped open. She was back inside her apartment, in her bed. Without looking, Chun Li punched the snooze button and assumed a sitting position.

'That was a weird dream,' she thought.

Then she winced as she felt the back of her head throbbing from the pain. Rubbing the back of her head, she realized that maybe it was not a dream after all. 'I need some aspirin,' she thought darkly as she opened her nightstand drawer. Chun Li caught a glimpse at her alarm clock and immediately frowned.

The clock read 2:00 a.m.

"Stupid freaky alarm clock," Chun Li muttered to herself as she retrieved a bottle of aspirin from her nightstand drawer.

She got out of bed and exited the room. Upon entering the kitchen, she pulled out a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. Before she could pop a couple of the painkillers into her mouth, she looked down and saw something.

It was a little girl. Chun Li could have guessed that she was five, maybe six years old. She was a sad little thing, with dark hair twisted into pigtails, dark eyes, and wearing a simple dress. In her hands, she clutched a doll. Chun Li noticed that the doll was missing its head.

Chun Li also noticed that her door was open. But her law enforcement training overrode her better judgment as she checked up on the girl. "Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down in front of the girl, checking for any injuries.

The girl said nothing.

'She's traumatized,' Chun Li thought. 'Poor girl.'

Chun Li stood up. "Wait here. I'm calling for help." But as she reached for the cordless phone, the girl turned and ran out of the apartment. "Hey! Stop!" Chun Li shouted as she gave chase. "I want to help you! Wait!"

The girl was indeed fast. Chun Li saw her round the corner, and took off after her. When Chun Li made it to the corner, she saw the girl enter one of the apartments, closing the door behind her.

"Wait!" Chun Li shouted as she ran after the girl. Thankfully, the door was unlocked as she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Upon entering the apartment, the door slammed shut behind her, causing her to jump. When she inspected the door, she saw that it wouldn't budge when she tried to open it, as if some kind of supernatural force was keeping it closed.

"Welcome, Inspector Xiang," a male voice boomed, its power making Chun Li flinch. "I've been expecting you."

Chun Li turned around. The room was empty before, but now, there was a man there. He was tall, possibly standing around Guile's height, with long brown hair tied into a thick braid. He was muscular, and it showed through his robes. The robes itself were something different seeing as his left arm and part of his chest was exposed. A thick set of prayer beads were slung over one shoulder.

The man was meditating in the lotus position. That itself would not have been strange, but Chun Li saw that he was floating several feet off the ground. Then again, both Bison and the Yoga master Dhalsim also performed the same feat of hovering in the air.

The man opened his eyes. One eye was dark brown while the other was more...sinister; a yellow iris with a cat-like pupil, showing that he was not completely human. The little girl was by his side.

The man looked at the little girl. "You have already met Anita. I am merely looking out for her until her emotions return. Like me, she is not...completely human. I found her inside an orphanage, where she was shunned by the others. As a result, she has lost her emotions. She speaks every once in a while, but most of the time, she remains silent."

The man then uncrossed his legs and placed them on solid ground. "I am Donovan Baine, the guardian of the present."

Chun Li narrowed her eyes. "You're not human."

"You are correct, Inspector," Donovan replied. "I am a dhampir – the offspring of a human mother and a vampire father. But who I am is not important, Inspector. The present – your present – is important. We must be on our way. Dhylec!"

A massive sword spun into view, settling into its stationary position, which was against Donovan's back. Chun Li looked at the blade. It was a double-edged weapon, with a crescent-shaped edge at the end. Chun Li could have swore that the blade was looking at her as if it were...alive.

As Anita took her place by Donovan's side, the door unlocked. Chun Li, in the meantime, was eyeing the massive blade with concern.

Donovan sensed her uneasiness. "Do not be afraid. Dhylec is under my control. He won't bite...unless I tell him to. Come."

Donovan opened the door and gently ushered Chun Li through.

* * *

Instead of the apartment hallway, Chun Li found herself standing inside a posh hotel suite. The hotel wasn't that of the Masters International, of which Ken's family owns, but the room was impressive. Jacuzzi, queen-sized bed, and a bottle of champagne on ice.

Reclining on the bed was a Chinese woman. Chun Li guessed that she was probably out of her teens, if not in her early to mid twenties. Short dark hair framing a pretty little face. She was also dressed in sexy lingerie.

Chun Li looked around the room. "Why are we here?" she asked. "Who's that girl? I've never seen her before."

The next person was one she recognized all too well once he emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

Her boss, David Chow.

Chun Li's mind went into overdrive. She looked at the woman, and guessed that she was not Chow's wife, since she had met her at a Interpol gala months earlier.

'Integrity my ass,' Chun Li thought as she watched her boss pop the cork off of the champagne bottle and poured himself and the young lady a glass. 'Bastard's been cheating on his wife...wait a minute...I'm at the office working my ass off and he is sleeping around with another woman while I'm doing it?!'

"Are you sure that no one knows where you are?" the woman asked.

"Positive," Chow replied. "You worry too much, Lynn. My wife still thinks that I'm at the office working on a very important case."

"Which is why you got loyal subordinates to do your dirty work," Lynn replied, smirking as she took her glass and took a sip.

Chow scoffed. "They are a means to an end. Especially Dourai's daughter. They will do what I say...or face the consequences. Maybe I should fire Leung, just to keep the others in line. But I don't have to worry about Xiang. Come tomorrow, she will have the Triad case taken care of, and I can take the credit."

Chun Li, in the meantime, was fuming. 'That lousy, no-good, son-of-a...note to self: kick Chow's ass in the morning and call his wife.'

Donovan noticed that Chun Li was getting angry. "I think a change of scenery is in order," he said.

* * *

Chun Li blinked. Instead of being inside the suite listening to her boss's gloating, she found herself standing inside the ballroom of the Masters International Hotel Kowloon. From the look of things, this was the Christmas Party that was to take place the following day. Chun Li saw that everyone she knew were there, rekindling friendships and picking new rivalries.

Chun Li watched several couples mingle with one another. She recognized Ken and his fiancee, Eliza. As it turned out, Eliza and Guile's wife were sisters, with Julia being the eldest of the two. Guile had made his displeasure known about Ken becoming his future brother-in-law. But Eliza was happy with him, and Ken was the same with her, so Guile dropped the issue.

As Chun Li saw, everyone was having a good time.

Almost everyone.

Chun Li watched as Ken walked over to the open balcony. There was someone there, looking out over the harbor. Curious, Chun Li followed Ken out to the balcony.

"You all right, buddy?" Ken asked.

The man had his back turned to Chun Li. Imagine her shock when she found out that the well-dressed man was Ryu once he turned to face Ken. The look on the Japanese fighter's face was strained, rather than his usual stoic expression.

"No, Ken," Ryu replied flatly. "I'm not all right." He then proceeded to vent out his frustrations. "She's done this to me three years in a row, Masters. Even when I was traveling all over the world, I managed to make time for us. All I wanted was to spend Christmas with her. Instead, Chun Li would rather work. I could have been somewhere in the world, fighting. But instead, I wanted to spend time with her."

Ken was silent. Ryu had never been this angry. Even when Gouken was killed, Ryu was never this mad. His jaw then dropped when Ryu pulled a small item out of his pocket. Chun Li's expression mirrored that of Ken's once she saw what the item was.

Ryu looked at the small engagement ring in his hand. "I picked this up back in Tokyo. I was going to ask he to marry me," he said sadly. "But it appears she loves her job more than she loved me. Did she really cared for me at all? Or was it all a lie?" He sighed. "It really doesn't matter now. She's made her choice. So now, I must make mine."

Before Ken could stop him, Ryu cocked his arm back and threw the ring, where it disappeared into the waters below. Spinning on his heels, Ryu said, "Excuse me, Ken. I'll be in my room."

Ryu walked out of the ballroom, ignoring the calls of his friends and rivals. Chun Li ran after him, while Donovan and Anita followed closely behind. As fast as she was, Ryu had a head start, reaching the elevators before her. Chun Li had to skid to a halt in order to avoid crashing face-first into the sliding doors.

"I take it you want to follow Ryu?" Donovan asked, cradling Anita with one hand. When Chun Li nodded, Donovan snapped his fingers.

In a flash of light, Chun Li found herself inside Ryu's hotel room. Moments after her arrival, Ryu entered the room, looking very dejected. He leaned up against the door, unloosening his necktie and after pulling the silk cloth off of his neck, tossed it to the side.

Ryu slumped to the floor, his back up against the door. What Ryu did next made Chun Li feel even worse.

He was crying.

Ryu Hoshi, the World Warrior champion, was crying.

"Oh, Ryu," she whispered. "I didn't know...you wanted to marry me..."

Her chain of thought was interrupted when Anita hopped down from Donovan's arm and kicked Chun Li hard in the shin, causing the older woman to stagger slightly.

"OW!" Chun Li yelped. "That hurt!"

"Meanie," Anita said before jumping back into Donovan's arms.

"While crudely put," Donovan concurred, "my ward does have a point."

"I didn't know...how was I supposed to know that Ryu wanted to marry me?" Chun Li asked, turning from the crying man.

"You would have found out," Donovan replied, accusingly, "had you decided to come to the party instead of choosing to work on Christmas Day. Your decision had left Ryu brokenhearted. But in the end, you will feel much worse come the following day."

"I seriously doubt whatever can happen now will make me feel a lot worse," Chun Li remarked.

Donovan grunted. "Is that so?" he asked.

* * *

In a flash of light, Chun Li saw that she was inside the Interpol Offices in downtown Hong Kong. Looking at the calendar, she saw that it was December 26, the day after Christmas.

Chun Li looked around the office. There was a skeleton crew scattered throughout the area, since the majority of the employees were still home, enjoying the holidays.

And Chun Li saw that she was also one of the employees present.

The other Chun Li was inside her private office, her door closed, going over some paperwork, mumbling to herself.

Then her phone rang.

Without turning her eyes from the papers, Chun Li pressed the button activating the speaker phone. "Interpol. Inspector Xiang speaking."

"It's me."

Ryu's voice had caught Chun Li's attention in an instant. "Ryu? Is that you? Where are you? I called the hotel and they said you checked out."

"I'm at the airport," Ryu replied, the strain evident in his voice. "My flight leaves in twenty minutes. I'm going back to Japan. I will not be returning to Hong Kong."

Chun Li frowned, while the real one watched the scene unfold with a rising sense of dread in her gut. "Look, Ryu, if this is about me working on Christmas, it can't be helped. My boss wanted me on this case, in exchange for a three-week vacation come next month. I can come to Japan and visit you to make up for yesterday."

Ryu's response caught Chun Li off guard. "No."

Chun Li blinked. "No? What do you mean, 'no?' You don't want me to come to Japan? Fine. We can meet up elsewhere."

"No, Chun Li," Ryu replied. "I'm tired. Tired of your broken promises to me, Li. This is the third Christmas in a row where you chose your work over me. All I ever wanted was to spend the holidays with you."

"I wanted that too, but –"

"But what?" Ryu said, cutting her off. "Your job is more important than the man who loves you?"

Chun Li stiffened at that remark. "That's not fair, Ryu. You know how much being a detective means to me."

"And you know how much you mean to me," Ryu replied coldly. "Or rather, used to. I had some time to think things over and given the past events, in which you chose to work not only this Christmas, but the past two Christmases as well instead of spending it with me...now I don't think it's going to work out between us."

Chun Li didn't like where this was going. "Ryu...we've known each other since we were teenagers. We've been dating ever since the last tournament. You can't just give up on me, not after all we've been through."

"So why did you not come to the Christmas party?" Ryu demanded. "Your job would have been there the following day. I wanted to spend time with you, and you threw it back in my face. You broke my heart, Chun Li."

"Ryu, I –"

"Did you know that I was going to ask you to marry me yesterday?" Ryu asked, killing Chun Li's next comment. "Of course you didn't, because you didn't even bother show up for the party. I even bought you a ring. Now it's at the bottom of the harbor. I've had it with your lies and broken promises, Chun Li. We're finished. I hope your job keeps you warm in bed at night, since you chose to make sure I sure as hell didn't. But that what's going to happen when you chose what kept you fed over the man who thought he loved you."

"Ryu, please," Chun Li pleaded. "Don't do this to me. I thought you loved me."

"Funny. I thought the same thing. But that was a lie. You made your choice, and it wasn't me. Goodbye, Inspector Xiang."

Click. The line went dead.

"Ryu? Ryu?! RYU?!" Chun Li shouted at the dead phone.

In a flash, Chun Li was out of her chair and out the office. In the meantime, the real Chun Li watched this scene in complete shock.

* * *

It took Chun Li twenty minutes to reach the airport. Flashing her Interpol badge had allowed her to pass the security checkpoints unmolested as she rushed to the terminal where Ryu's flight was scheduled to take off from.

But it was too late.

Ryu was nowhere to be seen.

And the plane was gone.

'Oh, God,' Chun Li thought as she sank to her knees. 'What have I done...what have I become? I didn't mean for this to happen...I thought he would wait for me...'

The tears fell as Chun Li began to sob uncontrollably. "Come back," she whimpered. "Come back...I'm sorry, Ryu..."

The real Chun Li watched this scene unfold with horror. Turning to Donovan, she demanded of the guardian, "Why the hell are you showing me all of this if I am already beyond redemption?! What is the point in all of this?!"

"To show that for every action, there is a consequence," Donovan replied smoothly. "In choosing your job over Ryu, you paid a very high price. You caused Ryu to fall out of love with you. There is no one to blame but yourself."

* * *

Another flash and Chun Li was back inside her apartment, watching her other self curled up in her bed, rocking herself, crying, still chanting, "Come back...come back..."

The real Chun Li turned from the sight. She exited the room. Donovan was already in the living room, along with Anita. Chun Li shook her head. "I know Ryu still loves me," she insisted. "He's just mad...needs some time to cool down. Things will be back to normal soon enough."

Donovan shook his head. "I don't think so. Everyone has their breaking point. And Ryu has reached his when you broke his heart. He will not return to you, no matter how much you beg, because as long as you work with Interpol, he thinks you will continue to break your promises."

"I swore an oath to protect the weak! I am an officer of the law! It's my job!" Chun Li defended.

"Yet, you see you are nothing to Chow," Donovan replied. "You saw that he doesn't give a damn about the other agents, you especially. He sees you only as a means to an end. You are nothing but a stepping stone to him. You have become the one thing that Dourai despised: a puppet."

Donovan's hand snapped upward, catching Chun Li's fist in a iron grip when she tried to punch him. "Did I strike a nerve, Inspector? I see the kitten still knows how to scratch. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"I'm not a puppet!" Chun Li shouted as she wrenched her hand away from Donovan. She pointed to her crying self back in her room. "I didn't want this! All I wanted was a successful career and someone who loves me! Was that so hard or asking for that much?!"

"Apparently, it was for Ryu," Donovan snidely replied. "You made the choice. You thought he would wait for you. He was willing to give up traveling the world for you. But you chose your job over love. I hope you're happy with yourself, Inspector."

Chun Li turned back towards the room, where she saw her mirror image cry herself to sleep. Then she turned back to Donovan."But isn't this...what you showed me..." she began, "Is it inevitable...or can it be changed?"

"That is up to you to decide, Inspector," Donovan's replied. "However, the night is waning and my time is up. It is time for Anita and myself to depart."

With a snap of his fingers, things went black for Chun Li.


	4. The Final Guardian

A.N.: The final guardian. You have no idea how many drafts and how many revisions Ted and I went through. This was also the hardest chapter to write in the whole story. We hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter Four: The Final Guardian**

Chun Li was falling.

Soon, she landed hard on her side.

"Ow..." Chun Li winced. "That hurt."

She got to her feet. After looking around for a moment, she saw that she was somewhere in Japan.

She wasn't inside her apartment, like the last time. Instead, she saw that she was outside a run-down, abandoned castle, somewhere in the Japanese countryside. The castle itself was the location of a battle long ago, the massive structure nothing more than a shadow of its former glory.

And she had that gut feeling that she was not alone.

Her intuition proved right as she turned her head upward. There, standing on the roof, was the final guardian. From her position, Chun Li saw that the figure was dressed entirely in white.

The figure then began to walk towards, Chun Li...that is, it appeared he was walking down an invisible stairway, white sakura petals heralding his arrival.

Chun Li felt the power radiating from the man. It made Bison's Psycho Power look like a campfire compared to the man's aura.

After a moment, the man was on solid ground. He was clearly taller than Chun Li, decked out in a all-white Victorian-style suit, complete with matching gloves. Piercing blue eyes sized the Chinese woman up as one gloved hand ran through his short blond hair.

"Three o'clock on the dot," the Man in White said smoothly, looking at his pocket watch before placing it back in its pocket. "I like punctuality in a woman."

Chun Li took a step back. "Who...who are you?" she asked nervously. This night was a wild ride and she didn't think it was over yet.

The Man in White smirked. Unlike Ken's own smirk, his was purely...evil. "I think you know the answer to that question, Inspector Xiang," he replied.

Chun Li swallowed. "You're...you're the guardian of what is to be, right?"

The Man in White nodded. "Excellent detective work, Miss Xiang." He inclined his head. "You may call me Fortinbras. I am here to show you your future, as well as your fate."

Chun Li swallowed again, clearly scared of this man. 'This man could even make Bison have a shudder or two,' she thought.

Fortinbras caught the look on her face. "You fear me? Good. Don't expect any favors or mercy from me. For I have none of either to give."

Chun Li sighed. "Fine. Let's go. My night could not get any more worse than it already has."

* * *

In a flash of purple light, Chun Li found herself inside a mansion. She recognized it as the Masters Estate in San Francisco, having visited there with Ryu.

Walking around the grounds, she found the backyard. From what Ryu had told her, Ken's Japanese mother was homesick when she married Ken's American father, so he had the garden built to appease her.

Chun Li saw that the backyard had a sole occupant. She recognized him as Ryu. The Japanese martial artist was dressed in a wool sweater and a pair of cargo pants. He was looking at the carp swim in the koi pond, lost in thought.

"Ryu?"

Ryu turned to the sound of the voice. A slender, attractive European woman with dark hair tied into a bun with several bangs framing her face, approached him. She was wearing a simple turtleneck sweater and slacks.

Chun Li's jaw dropped as she recognized the woman immediately.

"I've been looking all over for you," Juli said, arms folded, her voice husky with her light accent. Juli was German by birth, but had spent her childhood in all over Europe. "You know I haven't gotten the layout of this place down yet."

Ryu smiled sheepishly. "Gomen. I just needed some time alone to think."

Meanwhile, Chun Li watched this scene with shock. "Ryu hooked up with Juli? The ex-Shadowlaw Dolls commander?! What the hell is going on here?!" she demanded.

Fortinbras simply replied, "Sit back and enjoy the show. Just remember that you are responsible for this."

Juli knew what Ryu meant. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

Ryu shrugged his shoulders. "It can't be helped, Juli. I did love her once, you know. And now she's gone. For good," he said as he bowed his head.

"But now you have me," Juli said. "You know," she trailed off as she ran one finger across his jawline and tilted his head up, "I never got a chance to say thank you. For giving my heart to me," she said as she kissed him on the nose. "And for giving us a chance to love each other."

Ryu smiled as he pulled the woman closer. "You're very welcome, darling."

"Did you tell Ken how we met?"

"You mean how we met inside a hospital in Seoul after I got injured by that Spanish nutjob? Yeah, I told him. He was very surprised to find out that we were dating, as were the others."

Juli chuckled. "I know. It's not everyday that a former Shadowlaw Doll becomes romantically involved with a former target."

Ryu kissed her on the forehead. "I love my little Doll very much. And Ken will like you too...as long as you behave."

Juli pouted. "But I've been a good girl. You know that I've been working as a teacher ever since I left Shadowlaw. I haven't gone back to my old job, despite Juni calling me asking to."

"Come on," Ryu said, pulling Juli to his side. "I'll bet Ken's waiting for us inside." He then kissed her cheek, and she relented.

The pair then walked back into the house. Chun Li watched the entire scene in disbelief. Ryu had hooked up with Juli, the former Doll of Shadowlaw?

Chun Li slumped to her knees. "Ryu...I thought he would wait for me...I wasn't ready to settle down...he wanted...he wanted to marry me...what have I done?" she whispered as she watched the man that she loved being taken from her by that German floozy.

She then felt a hand grip on her shoulder. In a flash, she saw how Ryu had hooked up with Juli.

* * *

It was in a Seoul hospital that Ryu was getting patched up.

He'd gotten out of a fight club with his hide not quite all intact. He'd taken a few cuts from Vega's claw, but with his last power move, Ryu had flattened the arrogant Spaniard with a Shoryuken that had shattered Vega's mask. Ryu was sure he'd given the Spanish Ninja a few bruises too, but at least Vega hadn't gotten up.

The brunette woman who was caring for Ryu had a few syringes and prepared sutures. They weren't really deep cuts, but that meant that Ryu was better off out of the ring for a while.

"You took on one of Shadowlaw's nastiest without much care, from what you told me," she told him. "What made you think you were Superman?"

Ryu sighed. "I lost my girlfriend. She chose work over me on the day I was to pop the question. In frustration I called her the next day and thought it best that if she didn't care about the man who thought he loved her for the third Christmas in a row, then maybe we shouldn't try for a Fourth."

The brunette's eyes went wide. "So you were going in with a major mad on and woe be anyone who got in your way."

Ryu blinked as he turned to look at the woman stitching up his wounds. "Wait a second...you look familiar...how did you know I fought Vega?"

Ryu looked at her closely. Her face showed that she was European, her hair was up in a bun, with two strands flanking her face. Almost like...

"The way the wounds are placed are a dead giveaway. I can recognize his handiwork anywhere. Let me finish up your stitches, and then we can get you signed out first," she said. "Then maybe we can go somewhere out of the eyes of others." She'd caught the glimpse of recognition he'd gotten, but she couldn't chance him blurting out right now.

About fifteen minutes (the stitches) and two hours (the doctor's examination) more in the hospital, Ryu was given a discharge and prescriptions for both antibiotics and pain medications. (As Ryu could vouch, the wounds from Vega's claw could hurt and get infected pretty quickly.)

The woman (who Ryu found out had the name of Julia) later invited him to a nearby noodle shop once her shift was over. It would be about two hours, and fortunately, that would be enough time to get the prescriptions she'd given him filled.

It was at the shop meal that Ryu found out why she looked familiar.

"You're Juli, one of the Twin Dolls," Ryu said as it clicked. "You used to work with Juni."

"Key words are 'used to', Ryu," she said. "After Bison was killed in Thailand, I knew that line of work wasn't comfortable for me anymore. I came from a medical background when I was growing up, so I wanted to give life or help others keep their life, not take it." Juli looked a little sad. "I found that I'd done a lot of wrong in my life, and I wanted to do some right before it was too late."

"We've all had moments when we wanted to do the right thing. When we gave many chances to folks, hoping they'd show us right." Ryu touched her hand, and smiled before his own face fell, "This once I couldn't take any more, and I had hoped she'd change. I'd loved her for a long time, but her job always took precedence. This last time was the final straw. I'd gotten to where I knew that there was more to life than fighting for a living, and I wanted to share my life with her." Ryu sighed. "I was ready to give it all up and start over with her too. I can't fight forever, and I didn't want to have 'He died with his gloves on' on my tombstone."

"She must have been special," Juli mused, "to get you to that way."

"I'd thought she was, once," Ryu said sadly, "but her job turned out to be number one in her life, not me. After a night of realizing I was a fool for thinking she was the one, I broke up with her. I'd had my life hurt bad when my grandfather was murdered, then when Bison had murdered her father, but I thought after Bison died, we might have a chance.

"But a man can only take so much and a heart hurt one time too many. I guess that's why I went and fought that Spanish bastard. I was mad as Hell and I didn't care who was on the other end." Ryu sighed and hung his head. "Suicidal, I know."

"No," Juli said as she put a hand on his chin. "You were in pain. Like I had when I lost my parents. I was a child genius, then my parents were murdered. Bison found me, and I was recruited into Shadowlaw. I had lost everything, and was in extreme pain as well. I didn't care that I hurt or killed others, just as long as I felt I belonged. Then you killed Bison and I wasn't sure I'd done more harm than good." Juli looked him in the eye. "It was then I realized I was in charge of my destiny. Wanting to atone, I became a doctor, to heal and give life to others."

"So I guess we both have our issues," Ryu said.

"But I know we don't have to face them alone. There may be issues we face that deal with us alone, but we don't have to be alone when we do," Juli replied.

"No, we don't," Ryu said. "But can you leave here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I think we might be what the doctor ordered for our own ills," he said as he turned her to face him. "And you are so beautiful, too."

"Do you say that on all first dates?" Juli raised an eyebrow.

"Only on those where I learn I should give life and love a second chance," Ryu said.

"In that case," she replied, "Do you have a number where I can reach you? Or are you still traveling around the world?"

"I'm done with my world tour," Ryu replied. "I've made plans to open the dojo. I can give you my number and address."

Juli nodded and reached inside her purse, coming up with a notepad and a inkpen. Ryu scribbled down his information and handed it to Juli.

Sure enough, several weeks later, Ryu received a phone call from Juli. Apparently, she had accepted a job offer from Waseda University, teaching medical science, and had asked Ryu if he could show her around the city. Ryu accepted. That was where things had taken off from there.

A few dinners, a movie or two, even German kareoke as the two were in front of a screen with microphones.

'I didn't know Ryu could put his heart into a foreign song,' Chun Li thought as she saw Ryu pull out his inner rocker.

"Danke schoen, Ryu," Juli said, kissing his cheek. "This song meant a lot to me, and it meant a lot that you were willing to sing with me."

"It also meant a lot that you willing to teach it to a man who might not be able to carry notes in a bucket," Ryu said. "Everyone used to say 'keep it in the shower' if they thought I'd sing." He then turned her face to face him, and gave her a deep kiss.

Chun Li was green with envy as she watched Ryu and Juli grow closer.

As her attention was focused on Ryu and Juli, Fortinbras' form shifted, then changed. Unlike the Guardians of the Past and Present, the Guardian of the Future took on a more different and some would say, ruthless approach. That approach was to look into the soul of the person and discover not only their worst fear, but the one thing they despised the most.

And in Chun Li's case, she had three.

She feared losing her father's approval. She feared losing Ryu to another woman. And most of all, she feared Bison, whom she had killed in the last tournament.

The Man in White was a master in psychological warfare and it was about to show.

Soon, the shape-shiting was completed. Unfortunately, Fortinbras was anything but. The tanned skin, black karate gi and the red eyes showed that it was Ryu on a Dark Hadou trip.

"Jealous, aren't we?" Fortinbras spoke...in Ryu's voice.

Chun Li spun around, and found herself face-to-face with Ryu, or rather, the Dark Hadou-possessed incarnation of the Japanese martial artist.

"There's more," 'Evil Ryu' rasped, the voice making Chun Li flinch. "Your pain is just beginning, Chun Li. Soon, you will suffer as I have suffered."

'Evil Ryu' lashed out, striking Chun Li in a shiatsu point, making the Chinese martial artist do an impression of a statue, rendering her helpless as 'Evil Ryu' unleashed the next series of events on the young woman.

* * *

Several days had passed since Ryu had severed his ties with Chun Li.

Ken had found out from Ryu once he was back in Japan about the break-up. Almost immediately, Ken had notified both Guile and Cammy, asking that they check in on the distraught Chun Li.

"I've asked Rose and Sakura to watch his back," Ken had said. "I can even do a few things from Japan if worse comes to it." He'd heard from Rose how a few times, Ryu was on the verge of a breakdown. Fortunately, she and Sakura were there to help comfort Ryu. Ryu had tried to be the sensei, but sometimes after a session with Sakura, whatever had been bottled up inside him poured out like a firehose or flood.

The two commandos were inside Chun Li's apartment. Instead of the headstrong martial artist who once claimed to be 'The Strongest Woman on Earth,' they found instead a brokenhearted woman clutching a pillow as if it were a security blanket, her eyes red from crying, her face puffy.

Guile and Cammy exchanged worried glances. Never in their lives they had seen Chun Li in such a state. The Chinese woman had fallen down hard emotionally and wasn't sure if she'd get back up.

Guile's loyalties were split. He knew what kind of cold-hearted bastards the Interpol brass could be, but he also thought Chun Li had known the nature of the beast when she joined Interpol, so to speak.

Instead, the Interpol brass had turned her into a puppet on the one day Ryu needed her to be human, and when she broke his heart for the last time, that was it.

"I'm worried about you," Guile said to Chun Li.

"If only someone told me he wanted to propose," Chun Li said, on the verge of tears. "I'd have told the Captain to shove it!"

"And then 'Black Christmas' came to pass," Cammy said. "Ryu felt you gave him a stocking full of coal and he gave one back to you."

Guile shot Cammy a glance as if to say, 'You're not helping.'

"He doesn't want to see me," Chun Li whispered. "I called him many times, and he hangs up the phone. I send him letters, asking him for forgiveness, and returns them to me without opening them. What have I done to deserve this?!" she wailed.

Wisely, both Guile and Cammy decided to keep their mouths shut. Ryu had hurt Chun Li pretty bad when he dumped her, but no one really could blame him for what he did.

(Ken himself had told them Ryu had suffered worse, which was why Rose and Sakura were watching him now.)

If they said anything now, it would have made Chun Li feel worse.

* * *

Masters Estate, Valentine's Day.

Nearly two months had passed since what was now known among the martial arts hierarchy which were present at the Christmas Party as 'Black Christmas.' Nearly two months had passed since Ryu had severed his relationship with Chun Li.

Then again, no one could really blame Ryu for what he did. Nearly everyone had watched as Ryu left the Christmas party a broken man.

Both Cammy and Guile had been worried about Chun Li. Ever since Chun Li had gotten dumped by Ryu after he'd blown up like Hiroshima the Chinese woman had buried herself in her work, trying to find meaning in her life. (It seemed like that was the only thing left for her.)

Instead, she found herself crying at night as she found out she had thrown away the one man who tried to give her life meaning after Bison.

Now, sadly, it was Valentine's Day. This was a time Ryu tried to make special for Chun Li in the past, but now it only brought bad memories for Chun Li.

Somehow, Guile and Cammy had talked Chun Li into coming to the Valentine's Day party in San Francisco. Chun Li was already in town, attending a law-enforcement convention. When she found out from Cammy that Ryu was going to be there, Chun Li decided to attend, hoping that Ryu would take her back.

Cammy saw that Chun Li was going to chicken out once they entered the lobby, but Cammy grabbed the woman's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Pull yourself together, girl," Cammy told Chun Li. "It's time."

* * *

It was amazing, Ken thought. Not quite two months after what the others called 'Black Christmas,' - the incident in which Ryu had finally broken off his relationship with Chun Li - and Ryu had healed somewhat. Ken knew Chun Li had been hurting, though. Yet she'd made her choice, Ryu told Ken, so he had to make his. Even if it left him a emotional wreck in the process. Which, Rose and Sakura admitted privately, it had a few times.

The woman who Ryu had ended up with, however, had done wonders for him, Ken admitted. Ken was afraid Ryu would become a victim of the Dark Hadou after his grief, anger and depression welled up in him after Chun Li didn't think Ryu was worthy of spending time with. But she'd turned out to be the last one anyone had expected.

Ryu had told Ken that she and Ryu both had their demons to face, but they didn't have to do it alone. So better to do it with each other.

Indeed, they proving to be even more loving that Ken and Eliza (to which Ken just laughed at first). She had him stronger than before, and if anything, better for it.

"Hey, buddy," Ken said as Ryu came in. He was wearing a bomber jacket, and a white turtleneck to go with his black slacks. Ryu also had a gorgeous brunette at his side, clad in a slinky black dress.

"Hey yourself," Ryu said. "This is a woman who saved me from wallowing in self-pity," he added as Cammy, Guile and Chun Li came in. "If it weren't for her, I'd be a lot worse off than I was in December." Ryu smiled. "She saved me from myself, and I love her for it."

Chun Li then screeched to a halt when she saw Ryu with another woman.

Cammy looked at her and recognized her immediately. "Bloody hell...it's Juli!"

Guile looked at the blonde Brit. "Who?"

"Juli, the former commander of the Shadowlaw Elite Squad – the Dolls," Cammy explained. "I heard she was doing some medical work somewhere in Asia, but I never thought that she would hook up with a guy she once chased after back in Shadowlaw."

Ryu, in the meantime, was conducting the introductions. "I'd like you to meet Dr. Julia Gilyard. Julia, Ken Masters."

"Please," Julia went, as she shook Ken's hand. "call me Juli."

Ken thought for a moment. "Why does that name sound familiar to me?" he asked himself.

Juli answered the question for him. "Because we met years ago back when I was a member of Shadowlaw."

Ken snapped his fingers. "I knew it!" He then turned to Ryu. "Out of all the people you hooked up with, you hooked up with her? And she did all that for you? Now all this I gotta hear!"

Chun Li, who had came to try and reconcile with Ryu, saw that it would have all been in vain. Before Cammy or Guile could stop her, she had ran out of the ballroom in tears. Ryu didn't even notice Chun Li's presence.

"Cammy, you'd better go after her," Guile went. Cammy nodded and ran after Chun Li.

So it was true. After Ryu dumped her, he'd hooked up with the former Shadowaw assassin-turned-doctor. If she'd known he'd do that with HER...Chun Li couldn't fight the tears as she ran into the ladies' room. And the worst part was, she'd given him the okay to do it.

Almost like what happened to Tara.

The real Chun Li watched this scene, frozen, helpless as 'Evil Ryu' began to taunt her. "You never really gotten over 'Black Christmas,' did you? You wanted me back, but it appears I have moved on. You are the last thing on my mind. I have Juli at my side now." He looked at Ryu and Juli talking to Ken and Eliza. "Look well, Inspector. I am happy now. I have done what no one thought I could do. I have gotten over you."

"You...lie," Chun Li managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Call it what you like," 'Evil Ryu' replied, "but you drove me away. You pushed me into the arms of the woman who once worked for your greatest enemy. And what happens to you, now that you finally see that I want nothing more to do with you?"

His red eyes flashed, blinding Chun Li.

* * *

Chun Li felt cold. When she opened her eyes, she found out why.

Looking around, she saw that she was inside the morgue located in the basement of Hong Kong General Hospital. She had been here plenty of times, given her occupation. Clean and pristine, with two metal slabs situated in the middle of the room. Three rows of lockers, used to store the bodies until they could be identified, lined one side of the wall.

One of the metal slabs had a body on it, concealed by a white sheet, the chest and torso area stained red with blood. Chun Li also saw that there was the medical examiner, a female in her mid forties, as well as two more people she immediately recognized.

William Guile and Cammy White.

Both were dressed in combat fatigues, and both looked like they've been through a war and lost. They both looked battered and bruised, Guile's arm was in a sling while Cammy's head was bandaged.

The examiner pulled the sheet back far enough so that the head and chest was exposed. However, she was blocking Chun Li's point of view. Guile and Cammy looked at the body, Guile's expression was somber while Cammy had tears running down her face.

The examiner sighed. "Never thought she would meet such an untimely end, and on the day before Christmas Eve, of all dates," she said as she pulled the sheet back further. Chun Li saw that the body was also dressed in the same fatigues that Guile and Cammy wore, the body apparently having just arrived. "She has several gunshot wounds to the torso. The round to the eye was fatal."

Cammy nodded. "She saw the gunman. I...I tried to get my firearm raised, but she knew...she knew that I would never get a round off in time..." She then broke down in tears, crying.

"She jumped into the line of fire, hoping that her body armor would stop the bullet," Guile explained, trying to keep his voice from cracking and his own tears from flowing. "The bastard had armor-piercing bullets in his pistol. They both traded gunfire. She was hit several times." He gestured to the sobbing Brit in his arms. "Cammy snapped and unloaded her gun into the bastard. That's when she saw the second gunman. She didn't have a chance. The other guy shot her through the eye, and she fell like a leaf." He sighed. "This whole raid was a god-damn fucking mess. Ten agents dead, including her."

Chun Li watched this exchange with a growing sense of dread creeping in her gut.

The examiner managed to remove the jacket. "Armor-piercing bullets?" She looked down at the chest wounds. "The armor only slowed down the rounds. There's no exit wound with the round through the eye. Death was instant. She didn't suffer, at least. Does she have any family?"

"No," Guile replied. "Her father was killed years earlier. She alienated herself from my brother-in-law and his friend, who was also her ex-boyfriend, not to mention several other people we knew." He looked at the examiner. "She did suffer, though. She never told anyone, but she suffered greatly this past year."

"She still spoke with her martial arts master," Cammy said once she calmed down. "He owns the Genhanten Restaurant. I'll notify him. He will claim the body."

The examiner nodded as she pulled the sheet back over the corpse. "If you two please come with me. We'll get those wounds properly dressed."

Once the morgue was deserted, Chun Li kept her eyes on the covered body, her throat dry.

From behind her, Fortinbras appeared. Chun Li felt his presence and turned around, facing the Man in White. He said nothing. Instead, he pointed to the covered body on the slab with one gloved hand.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Chun Li turned around and walked towards the slab, her steps getting heavier as she walked, Chun Li made her way towards the body. In one quick movement, she pulled the sheet off, tossing it to the floor.

Almost immediately, Chun Li went pale.

She was looking at her own corpse.

Hair cut short and undone, the skin gray, pale as death. Chun Li saw that her dead self was dressed in a tanktop - which was covered in her own blood - and combat fatigues, the same brand that Guile would wear. She also took notice of several holes in her chest, still seeping blood. What horrified her was the fact that she only had one eye, which was staring lifelessly at the ceiling. The round had blown her other eye out, the wound still bleeding coagulated blood.

Chun Li stumbled back in shock, tripping over her own two feet, causing her to fall to the floor. Feeling sick to her stomach, she vomited all over the floor.

"No...no...this can't be happening! This isn't real!" Chun Li screamed.

"It **is** real."

"Daddy?" Chun Li turned around.

Sure enough, instead of facing the guardian of the future, she was instead facing her foster father, Dourai Xiang. Fortinbras has changed forms again. Her adopted father was dressed in the same clothes he wore on the night of his death – a buttoned down shirt, slacks and shoes.

"I was happy that you decided to pursue a career in law enforcement," 'Dourai' began, "but look at you. You became a puppet, a means to an end." He pointed to her dead body on the medical slab. "This is the end result of your glorious career. I wanted you to be happy. But I was wrong."

"I...I was happy," she managed to reply.

"You never recovered from that incident on Christmas," 'Dourai' accused. "You never got over the fact that Ryu had a life without you in the picture! You practically threw the love of your life away in exchange for your job! You managed to alienate friends and family, pushing them away too!"

He pointed to the dead body. "What you see on that slab is the end result of your actions! You...**died**. The worst thing about it is that because of your cold exterior, no one else will give a damn."

As 'Dourai' tore into Chun Li with his verbal assault, he noticed something that Chun Li didn't. Had Chun Li been paying attention, she would have noticed that her body had sat up, and hopped down from the slab.

'Dourai' sure had hell noticed and stepped to the side. "Eyes front, Inspector," he said, pointing behind her.

Chun Li spun around, and found herself face-to-face with her dead mirror image, the lifeless eye staring at the live ones with nothing but contempt. With lightning speed, the dead Chun Li's hand shot forward, the slender fingers clamping down on Chun Li's throat like a vise. With the strength of ten madmen, the dead Chun Li threw the live one across the room, the live Chun Li bouncing off the wall before falling to the ground.

The walking corpse was upon her. Chun Li felt the dead fingers around her throat as they lifted her in the air, pinning her against the wall.

"Do you see now?" the dead Chun Li hissed, blood dripping from her mouth. "DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO US?!"

Visions invaded Chun Li's mind as she struggled to free herself from the death grip. Visions of herself drowning her sorrows in her field work and praises from her bosses...distancing herself from her friends and family...and finally...the moment of her death. Chun Li had been killed in the line of duty, trying to save Cammy.

Dead Chun Li tossed the live one again, knocking over one of the medical slabs as 'Dourai' watched the scene with emotionless eyes before shifting back to Fortinbras.

Dead Chun Li was now stalking the live one. "You loved Interpol more than Ryu," she snarled, "and now you see it didn't love you back enough. Was this job worth more than the man you loved once? Was it worth dying for knowing you lost your mind, soul, heart and now life to Interpol? Was it worth having 'She gave her life for Interpol' PUT ON OUR FUCKING TOMBSTONE?!?"

She unleashed a barrage of lighting-fast kicks, pummeling Chun Li before punting her across the morgue. "We were married to our job, now Death did us part from this life! We loved working and now we found it did NOT love us back! We were better off with Ryu and you damn well knew it!" She drove her elbow into the living woman's back, forcing her to the ground when she tried to get up.

Chun Li felt herself being picked up by the back of her neck and tossed once again. Only this time, instead of the hard tile floor, she landed on grass.

After getting her bearings, she realized one thing.

She was in Kowloon Cemetery.

Five people – four men and one woman – stood over an open grave. Chun Li recognized them as William Guile, Cammy White, Gen and his two charges, Yun and Yang Lee. Chun Li saw the somber expressions on their faces as they looked at the open grave. Chun Li saw that both Yun and Yang were crying.

As Chun Li noticed, there was no one from Interpol attending the funeral.

"Did you contact Ryu?" Cammy asked.

"I did," Guile replied. "He said he wasn't coming. Ken also said the same thing when I told him." He sighed. "Poor guy. Ryu really loved her, you know. But she loved her job even more. To tell you the truth, I don't really blame him for moving on. I thought that they would hook up in the end."

"What's done is done," Gen intoned. "The only thing we can do is move on with our lives."

Guile nodded. "She always felt had something to prove," he said. "I should have never asked for her help on this assignment. We're still alive...and she's not."

Cammy looked at the headstone. "Who paid for the headstone?" she asked.

"Fei did," Gen replied. "After what had happened last year between her and Ryu, Chun Li had drowned her sorrows in her work. She pushed everyone away in her grief, including me, alienating everyone she knew. Fei only did what he did because I asked him to."

Guile nodded again. "What happened that Valentine's Day...it was just too damn soon for her...or was it too late? We all thought she had picked up the pieces, given what had happened to her and Ryu."

"But then Chun Li saw Ryu with Juli and she freaked out. And any progress she'd made then was undone," Cammy said sadly. "She had nobody to blame but herself in the end, but we didn't know how badly she was suffering even then."

"Her spirit had deteriorated to the point where she got her work done as she tried to find meaning in it," Gen added. "She'd given her all to Interpol: heart, mind, and now life." He shook his head. "And she got a lot less in return for it."

"If only we'd gotten her to stop working," Cammy said. "When she had that breakdown on Valentine's Day I saw we were losing her. She lost her love when Ryu dumped her, but he couldn't take being second place to her work when he wanted to make her first place in his life."

"'Black Christmas' was the beginning of the end for Chun Li," Guile said. "We should have seen this coming. We had a chance to pull her from the brink. And now...she's gone."

Gen nodded slowly. "She was my finest student. She will be missed, if not by myself and several others."

After dropping several flowers into the open grave, the small party went their separate ways.

Chun Li looked at the headstone. It was a simple headstone made out of granite, bearing only her name and the years of birth and death, and the epitaph '_**She gave her life for Interpol**_,' chiseled in both English and Chinese. The phrase held a double meaning. It was both a compliment and at the same time, an insult.

She slumped to her knees, wallowing in her own agony, tears flowing freely. "No...there's got to be a way to change this," she whispered. "There has to be a way out of this."

"So how does it feel, Inspector?" a cold voice said from the side. "Having pissed off your friends and family because you placed your job first? No one gave a damn when you died, and no one will miss you because of your actions. Because of what you have done, you have destroyed yourself. Your death will not be mourned. Not by Ryu, or anyone else."

Chun Li knew that voice from anywhere. Not really caring that she was in her bedclothes, she faced the one person she feared the most.

Chun Li thought she would never see him again. The red military uniform that concealed his powerful muscular frame, complete with the metal harnesses, wrist and leg guards, the latter concealing his spit-shined boots. The massive jaw and that insane grin. The red service dress cap with the bronze winged skull insignia. The black cape that was draped over his shoulders, blowing in the wind. Last, the soulless white eyes that stared down at the woman in contempt.

Chun Li was looking into the white eyes of the dread man in red himself, General Bison.

"Bison!" Chun Li screamed as she attacked, her pain forgotten.

'Bison' merely swatted Chun Li's attacks to the side. One glowing fist to the torso was more than enough to cause Chun Li to double over.

"You disappoint me, Inspector," 'Bison' sneered. "At least your father put up more of a challenge. You have gotten lax in your skills."

Chun Li rolled out of the way as 'Bison' slid across the ground, narrowly missing her by inches. Chun Li recovered, but as she threw a kick at 'Bison's' head, he vanished from sight.

"Damn it! Fight me, Bison!" Chun Li screamed. "I killed you once! I'll do it again!"

"You are in no position to make demands now!" his voice snarled. "Your blind devotion to your job has brought you to such an untimely end. What good is it to gain the empty praise of your circle if you lose those you love to do it? We are one and the same, Inspector. I rejected those weak emotions just as you rejected your friends and family!"

'Bison' then reappeared behind her. "It ends tonight, Inspector," he drawled. "As you once told me before you ended my life, 'tonight you sleep in Hell.'"

Chun Li spun around, preparing to knock 'Bison's' head off. Instead, 'Bison' simply raised one hand and fired off an intense ball of purple energy. The ball of Psycho Power, in the form of 'Bison's' signature move, the Psycho Shot, struck Chun Li square in the chest. The impact sent her flying towards the open grave.

Only at the last moment, Chun Li manage to grab onto the headstone, holding on for dear life.

Beneath her, the casket flipped open. Instead of a body, there was nothing but darkness. Worse yet, an unnatural force was pulling her towards the darkness. She tried to pull herself up, but the vacuum from inside the abyss was stronger. 'Bison' looked on, arms folded across his chest, laughing.

"NO!" Chun Li howled. "This can't be happening! It can't end this way!"

'Bison' then changed back to Fortinbras. "This is the end for you, Chun Li! You made the choice of placing your job before those you call your family!" He pointed to the abyss that awaited its next victim. "This is your fate! You are damned as was I!"

By this time, Chun Li's grip on the tombstone was getting weaker. But she held on as long as she could.

"I can't die like this! I don't want to die alone and forgotten! I don't want my friends and family to hate me! I'm not the person I once was! Anything to avoid the grave! I'll change! I swear on my father's honor I'll change!" Chun Li screamed.

"It's too late for you," Fortinbras deadpanned. "Your time is up."

"NO! I PROMISE TO DO BETTER!" Chun Li screamed, tears running down her face. "TARA, DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL CHANGE! I'LL REPENT! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL CHANGE MY WAYS!"

Then she lost her grip and fell screaming into the abyss, her casket lid slamming shut, silencing her screams.

Fortinbras looked at the closed coffin. "Rest in peace," he said as he turned and walked away.

The game of "This Could Be Your Life" was over.

And Chun Li had lost.


	5. Redemption

**Chapter Five: Redemption**

"NNNNNOOOOOOOO!"

Chun Li sat up, the blanket flying from her bed, having kicked it away. She soon followed, falling off the bed and onto her hands and knees. Her body shaking from the violence of her emotions, the Chinese martial artist grew nauseous and began to dry-heave. She still felt her eyes moist, the tears still pouring as she was still mentally reeling from what the Man In White put her through. She felt the rest of herself moist and clammy as well, the cold sweat from the ordeal still with her.

Once she managed to get herself under control, she saw that she was back inside her bedroom. She wasn't falling into the abyss. She was back home, in bed. And the alarm was ringing. Chun Li looked at the clock. It read 7:15 am.

"I'm...I'm home," she whispered. She then felt her chest and her head. No blood. No bullet holes. "I'm...I'm alive..."

She reached over and turned off the snooze button before flipping the switch to turn on the clock's radio.

"Good morning, Hong Kong and a Merry Christmas to all of you!" the female deejay boomed. "It is fifteen after the hour and..."

Chun Li cut the radio off. Then she winced as she felt her head. It was still sore from where Tenkai had whacked her with his staff, not to mention the pain in her back from where her dead self had tossed her into the wall and where Bison had pummeled her. Chun Li Xiang may have been a rational person, but even she realized one thing.

'December 25...it's Christmas Day.' She walked over to the window and looked out into the Hong Kong skyline. 'I haven't missed it,' she realized. 'The guardians did it all in one night...they were warning me...Tara was warning me...they've decided to give me one more chance. One final chance to prove myself.' She remembered how her other self went from the Strongest Woman in the World to an emotionally broken-down shadow of her former self. 'There is no way in hell that I will meet such a disgraceful end,' she vowed.

She should have been jumping for joy. Instead, as her eyes stopped over a picture of herself and Ryu, taken during her last visit to Japan, she felt a pang of sadness and guilt over what she had done to him.

Her job could wait. That is, if she even decided to continue to work for Interpol by the day's end, given the revelations concerning her boss. First things first, she realized that she needed to find Ryu. She knew where she was at, since the Masters family owned and operated a chain of hotels worldwide, and Ryu would be staying at the Masters International Kowloon.

Knowing Ryu, he would be up for his morning jog in less than a hour, which meant that Chun Li had to hurry, since the hotel was located on the other side of town. Thankfully, traffic would be light, allowing her arrive at the hotel just as Ryu would begin his morning jog.

But first, she needed to clean herself up and pull herself together.

* * *

The shower did wonders for her frazzled nerves. Once she was finished, Chun Li returned to her room. Looking at the clock, it was 7:25. Ryu would be preparing for his morning jog in a matter of minutes, so she had to find something quick to put on.

Several minutes later, Chun Li looked at her reflection in the mirror. The Chinese woman had chosen a white sleeveless Chinese peony shirt with red trim, blue denim jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. Deciding that placing her hair in her odango hairstyle would waste time, Chun Li instead pulled it into a single ponytail.

As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she said to herself, "I will not let you down, Tara. I will take the teachings of the three guardians to heart. They will dwell within me. I will erase the writing on that tombstone. I will no longer be the puppet of anyone. I will no longer let my job run my life and push those I care for away. But first, I need to talk to Ryu."

Knowing Ryu, he would be up for his morning jog in less than a Hour, which meant that Chun Li had to hurry, since the hotel was located on the other side of town. Thankfully, traffic would be light, allowing her arrive at the hotel just as Ryu would begin his morning jog.

Grabbing her car keys and her leather jacket, she opened the door, only to find a manila envelope taped to the door. Curious, Chun Li plucked the envelope from the door and inspected it. It had her name on it. When she opened it, she saw that there were numerous photos of Lieutenant Chow. Pictures of him with his mistress.

There were rumors she'd heard that Chow was cheating on his wife. And the photos verified it.

Along with the pictures, there was a note inside, addressed to her. Chun Li pulled the note out and read it.

_**  
A picture is worth a thousand words, Inspector. I trust you can agree.**___

_**The choice is up to you. Expose your boss' infidelity or turn a blind eye. You decide. He is not at the I.C.P.O. Offices. He is with the other woman at the Hilton International, room 804, and will be for the rest of the day. **_

_**The number of Mrs. Chow is at the bottom of the last picture.**_

_**~D**_

Chun Li left the note on her table and stuffed the envelope inside her jacket pocket. Chow can wait. First things first. She had to find Ryu.

* * *

Masters International Kowloon.

Ryu Hoshi groaned as he rose from the bed, one hand slamming down on the alarm clock, silencing it.

Today was Christmas Day. Even though he didn't celebrate the holiday, he did take time out from his fighting to spend time with friends and family.

He was still upset over the fact that today, Chun Li would be at the offices working instead of spending time with him. Sure Chun Li was one of the best inspectors working for the International Criminal Police Organization, but even she could make time to take a break once in a while.

Sighing to himself, he got out of the bed, wearing only a pair of boxers. After a series of stretches and practice punches and kicks, shambled towards the bathroom. Maybe he would feel better after his morning run through the city. After all, today was Christmas and the day was just starting.

* * *

Chun Li had made it to the hotel in record time.

With less than ten minutes to spare, Chun Li found a parking space inside the hotel's parking garage and parked her car. Entering the hotel from a side door, Chun Li walked across the lobby, heading for the elevator.

Seven floors later, Chun Li exited the elevator. With the exception of the cleaning lady, the corridor was deserted.

'I hope he's still there,' Chun Li thought as she walked down the hall, stopping at the door with the number 721 emblazoned on the front. She could hear the shower running from inside the room, telling her that Ryu was still inside.

'Can't back down now,' she thought as she knocked on the door once the shower ended. 'I got to make amends and do it now. I can't lose him.'

She knocked on the door again. When she raised her hand for the third time, the door opened, revealing a slightly damp Ryu, naked from the waist up, dressed in a pair of white gi pants, something that he had hastily put on upon hearing the knocking at his door.

Ryu, on the other hand, was not expecting to see Chun Li on the other end of the door. More than likely, he was expecting Ken.

For a full minute, neither person spoke. Ryu, however, was still upset over the events that had transpired between them and it showed on his usually stoic face.

Chun Li spoke first, breaking the ice. "Hey."

Ryu folded his arms across his chest. "Inspector Xiang," he replied curtly. Chun Li flinched slightly at the coldness in Ryu's voice, showing that he was still angry. "I thought you were going to be working today."

"I..." Chun Li hesitated slightly. "I decided not to."

That caught Ryu off guard. Chun Li not working on Christmas Day? After all, she should have been at work at 7:30. Knowing Chun Li, she was very punctual when it comes to arriving on time. Ryu decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.

Ryu looked at his girlfriend with an appraising eye. "I'm curious...why are you here, Li?" he asked, one eyebrow up as he studied her.

Chun Li looked around, nervous before turning back to her still-pissed boyfriend. "Ryu, we need to talk."

Ryu nodded. "That we do."

"But not here," Chun Li insisted. "There's a small café nearby. We can talk there. Will you come with me?"

Ryu looked at her for a moment. "Give me a moment," he said, closing the door. Minutes later, he appeared, dressed in casual attire. After reuniting with Chun Li, she led him to the café.

* * *

The café was not just nearby. In fact, it was across the street from the Masters International.

The two sat on opposite ends of a small corner booth, sipping their tea. Chun Li remained slumped in her seat, wondering how she could tell Ryu about her change in heart without making it sound like she's crazy. After all, who would believe that her change in heart came from three guardians?

'Yeah,' she thought darkly. 'That's a one-way ticket to the insane asylum.'

Chun Li took a deep breath and began speaking. To Ryu, she was coming clean about her past. It was also to her, a confession.

"It's funny. Most people think that I was born and raised in Hong Kong, yourself included. Remember when you asked me about my past and I kept avoiding the question?"

"I was curious," Ryu replied. "I always thought that you were either embarrassed or ashamed to talk about it."

Chun Li sipped at her tea. "Far from it. I never told anyone about my past, because I didn't want anyone to know." Looking Ryu dead in the face, she said, "Dourai was not my biological father. He adopted me when I was four. Only Sifu knew the truth."

This caught Ryu's attention. Chun Li was adopted? Then he nodded in understanding. "I was wondering why we managed to connect so well. Now I see why. You lost your family, while I never knew mine."

Chun Li nodded. "My real parents were from Beijing, but I wasn't born in China. I've been doing some digging around and discovered that my parents were wanted by the Chinese Communists for their anti-communist activities. From what I managed to find out about them, they both embraced the ideas of democracy and shunned the teachings of Mao Zedong. With the Chinese military police on their trail, my parents decided that relocating was the best option. My mother was pregnant with me at the time."

"So you were not born in either Beijing or Hong Kong," Ryu guessed.

Chun Li shook her head. "I'm Chinese ethnically, but I was born in Kuala Lumpur. My parents had friends in the British Consulate in Malaysia. Once they were safe in Malaysia, then they could travel to Hong Kong and start over."

"But your parents died before they could," Ryu said.

Chun Li nodded. "House fire. I was only three at the time. Since I had no family, I was put up at an orphanage that was run by the British government. Dourai adopted me when I was four, and took me to Hong Kong. None of the other Malay families wanted a Chinese girl to raise. But Dourai did. Like my parents, he was also wanted by the Chinese government and managed to relocate to Hong Kong."

Chun Li looked out the window. "He didn't have to take me in, you know. He had already lost his wife in a car accident, as well as his unborn child. But I'm glad that he did. He took me in and raised me as his own daughter. For that, I am grateful. It was only the two of us, but it was the best childhood I ever had. It was because of him that I decided to follow a career in law enforcement. Instead of becoming a Hong Kong police officer like him, I decided to join the I.C.P.O."

She turned back to Ryu. "Dourai...I mean Baba was so proud of me. Sifu would go on to tell me that Daddy would tell his co-workers with pride that his little girl was joining Interpol." Her expression then darkened. "But he would never live to see me graduate."

Ryu could only guess. "Bison."

Chun Li nodded. "I got the call from Sifu after I graduated. He was killed by Bison himself." She sighed. "And I pushed you away, all because I wanted to snap Bison's neck. Equal payback for what he did to my father."

Ryu nodded. Chun Li had gotten her wish back in the tournament.

* * *

Flashback

_Miriganka Island, Thailand._

_The final match of the Second Street Fighter tournament. The location: the courtyard of a monastery deep within Shadowlaw territory._

_The match between the reigning champion Ryu Hoshi and the tournament's host, the Shadowlaw warlord General Bison was slowly winding down. Both men looked liked hell, each looking like they went toe-to-toe with a bear and lost._

_Ryu grunted to himself as he ignored the pain. Bison was good. Very good. Even without his Psycho Power, the Shadowlaw boss was very proficient in hand-to-hand combat, a master of the Ler Drit fighting style. Ryu knew that with his injuries, he would be out for several months in order to recover properly if he survived this._

_Bison, however was worse off. Ryu was one of two heirs of the Ansatsuken fighting style, and the damage was present. Like Ryu, his face was battered and bruised. However, given the deadly impact of Ryu's fist, feet and special attacks, Bison knew that there was a possibility that he could lose this match. Several of his ribs were broken, one of his eyes was swollen shut and he was certain that he also had internal injuries. During the match, his hat was knocked off his head and forgotten._

_The battle had been raging for nearly an hour. Bison had made a critical error, which allowed Ryu to gain the upper hand. Bison's jaw was swollen, from the repeated impacts of Ryu's Hurricane Kicks. If he was struck again, then he would be sure that his jaw would be broken. He had painfully relocated his arm when Ryu had dislocated it with a kick to the shoulder._

_"To think...to think that a little runt like you can take me on?" Bison groaned out, down on one knee, spitting out a wad of blood as he held his side. He then chuckled bitterly as he decided to eat crow. "You...you are good. Now I see why Sagat was so obsessed with you."_

_Ryu said nothing. His eyes were focused on his opponent._

_Bison staggered to a vertical base. "But it's still not enough! Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed! Including you! PSYCHO CRUSHER!"_

_Bison spiraled forward, his body covered in bluish flames. Ryu, having seen this attack (not to mention being struck by it once already), had it scouted and avoided it by simply jumping upward, legs stretched out in a split as Bison sailed past him, the heat of the flames singing his gi pants._

_Ryu was upon Bison once he landed. Bison didn't stand a chance as Ryu went for broke. Bison felt several more ribs break from the monstrous impact of Ryu's fists. His head rocked violently to the side as Ryu unleashed another Hurricane Gale Kick, striking him repeatedly, the final blow sending Bison spinning to the ground._

_It was over._

_Ryu had won the tournament. The Japanese martial artist strode over to the fallen warlord. He crouched over him and grabbed a handful of his red shirt, his other hand balled into a tight fist._

_"Victory...complete," Bison spat out. "Go on...finish it!"_

_Ryu brought his fist down...and smashed the ground next to Bison's head, creating a nice divot in the ground. The victorious fighter released the defeated general. "I'm not like you," Ryu deadpanned. "I don't want to be like you."_

_Bison glared at the Japanese man. "You hesitate. That is the ultimate flaw of compassion."_

_"The flaw of power is your own arrogance," Ryu countered as he rose from the ground. "I won't kill you, Bison. My hands are already stained with the blood of another man. You will not die by my hand."_

_Ryu turned and walked away. Before he could reach ten steps, Bison rose up with a vengeance and charged. "RYU! NOW YOU DIE!"_

_As Ryu spun around to put down the Shadowlaw warlord permanently, fate intervened._

_"Sonic...HURRICANE!"_

_The cavalry had arrived. Ken Masters, followed by his brother-in-law William Guile and Chun Li, had arrived on the scene. And Guile struck first._

_Bison was blindsided by Guile's attack, the vortex of raw ki that spun around the Air Force commando sucked Bison in, unleashing damage onto Bison's already-damaged torso before Bison was thrown back, smashing into the bell that hung in the temple courtyard before falling to a heap._

_Bison knew that the injuries he now suffered were fatal. Not even his Psycho Drive could save him, since he was certain that every single rib was now broken, his organs now ruptured and bleeding internally._

_As Ken supported Ryu on his shoulder, Chun Li approached the fallen Bison._

_"So...Dourai's little wench of a daughter finally shows her face," Bison sneered, defiant even in the face of his own demise._

_"You killed my father," Chun Li stated flatly. "Tonight, you sleep in Hell, Bison."_

_Without saying another word, Chun Li grabbed Bison's head, and with all the strength she could muster, violently twisted it to the side._

_A sickening **CRACK** echoed throughout the courtyard, the sound of Bison's neck snapping like a twig._

_It was finally over._

_As Chun Li and Guile looked over Bison's corpse, Ken and Ryu silently made their exit._

End Flashback

* * *

"We all had our reasons for revenge, Li," Ryu replied. "I also lost my innocence when Gouken was murdered. You know my story with him, about how he took me in as his son. So I don't really blame you for that. I never told you what happened between me and Akuma."

Ryu cleared his throat. "The first time I found him, he beat me like a redheaded stepchild. But he spared my life because of the Dark Hadou that was inside me. I managed to reject the Dark Hadou and faced him again before the second tournament. The fight was indeed brutal, until he unleashed the ultimate attack on me – the Raging Demon. I narrowly avoided being killed when I countered the move. The only problem with that move is that if you miss your opponent, it will severely weaken you. So I took advantage."

He tapped at his temple. "I struck Akuma in the temple with enough force to rival my Shinshoryuken. And I avenged Gouken. I promised myself that I would never take another person's life in battle. That was why I spared Bison. Even a dog can be given some mercy...if only for five minutes."

"Yeah, I know, but in the end, I still placed my job over you," Chun Li insisted. She swallowed as she tried to make more right with Ryu. "All those times you could have been picking fights with challengers, you wanted to spend time with me. You wanted to spend Christmas with me and I pushed you away."

She felt tears come as some guilt crept in. "I didn't know how bad I was hurting you until I realized that I could have lost you. I was being selfish, not to mention being a total bitch to you." Her eyes went sad as another tear or two came down her face. "Can you find it in your heart to give this foolish girl one more chance? Please, Ryu...I don't want you to hate me...I'm truly sorry for hurting you these past few years."

Ryu looked at her long and hard, thinking it over. She was supposed to be working today, but instead, she was here with him, pouring her heart out and baring her soul to him, revealing secrets even he did not know. He was prepared to call it quits with her until she had showed up at the hotel, placing her relationship with him over her job.

That itself showed that she was worthy of another chance. And now her baring her soul to him in repentance was more to show she wasn't the same Chun Li from yesterday. But he had to be sure that she was being sincere now.

'Not even **she** could fake those tears,' he thought. Ryu could tell if she was lying, and so far, she was being truthful to him.

Ryu reached over and gently grabbed her hand, his huge hand covering hers. "I never really hated you, Chun Li. I was just...frustrated that our relationship was going nowhere," he said gently as he used his other hand to wipe the tears off of Chun Li's face.

Chun Li breathed out a sigh of relief. Ryu had not given up on her just yet. "I know. This is going to take a lot of work," she said as she moved from her seat to sit next to Ryu. "And I'm willing to do all I can to make it work," she added as she kissed his cheek.

Ryu then kissed Chun Li on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Li," he said with a smile.

Chun Li kissed him back. "Merry Christmas, Ryu," she whispered before she returned the kiss with her own.

Ryu pulled her close, one arm around her waist while her arms were around his neck.

"Tell me you forgive me," she whispered into the kiss. "I wanna hear you say it."

"I forgive you, Li. I forgive you." With that he kissed her again, and soon they had gotten into each other's arms, letting the healing begin.

The couple stayed that way for several minutes. Just as they were going into another round of tonsil hockey, Chun Li's cellphone rang. Frowning to herself, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled the small item out. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was Lieutenant Chow.

Chun Li answered the phone. "Inspector Xiang speaking."

The voice of her boss was on the other line. "Chun Li, it's Chow."

"Oh, Lieutenant Chow. Good morning and Merry Christmas," Chun Li replied casually.

"It's almost 8 in the morning and I got a call from Leung saying that you are not at the office," Chow said, getting straight to the point. "Where are you?" It was clear he wasn't happy.

"About that," Chun Li replied, "I've changed my mind and decided to take today off. It is Christmas, after all. I'm spending quality time with my friends and family."

"I don't care if it was Thanksgiving. You're needed on the Triad case."

"And where are **you**, _Lieutenant_?" Chun Li asked, pronouncing the title with sarcasm. "Are you at the office? Or are you somewhere else? You just can't order me to sacrifice my day off just so you can look good in front of the higher-ups. Besides, the work will still be there tomorrow when I return. Get May or Chang on it. They're bigger workaholics than I am."

"I don't want them on the case," Chang insisted. "I want you on it. And where do you get off on telling me where I should be? I am still your superior officer, Xiang. You will treat me with respect. If not you can kiss that three-week vacation goodbye."

"You're only the commanding officer because you kiss the asses of the regional commanders," Chun Li snidely replied, her backbone now firm. "Everybody in the offices know that. You're not the boss of the Hong Kong offices not by merit or experience, but by sucking up to commanders. You haven't even been out in the field. All you ever did was push paperwork."

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Chow bellowed. There was no way he'd let her do this to him. "I want you at the office, working on that case in ten minutes! If I call Leung and find out that you are not there, then you will deal with the regional commanders when I notify them of your disrespect and insubordination! I don't give a damn if you are some hotshot martial artist, or the fact that you helped in bringing down Shadowlaw, Xiang! Be at the office or you can find yourself another job!"

Chun Li puffed at that. "You want to play it like that? Fine. You can take the Triad case and shove it up your ass! As of this moment, I am tendering my resignation from the I.C.P.O.! Effective immediately!"

"What?! You can't just quit!" Chow objected. He wasn't expecting this from Chun Li. Chow needed her for his next promotion. There was no way he would let his subordinate (i.e., puppet) go.

"I just did," Chun Li replied coldly. "Merry Christmas and have a nice life, Lieutenant." With that said, she ended the call and placed her cell phone back into her pocket.

Ryu was watching the scene with a new-found respect for his girlfriend. "Wow," he remarked. "I guess this is a new Chun Li Xiang I'm seeing."

"Sorry you had to witness that," Chun Li apologized. "Chow was one of the main reasons why I ended up skipping out on the last couple of Christmases. No more."

"So what are you going to do now?" Ryu asked.

Chun Li shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. I've got plenty of money saved up to last for a couple of months. I can also fight in tournaments. But right now..." she trailed off as she pulled out the photos of Chow with his mistress. "I'm in the mood for a little payback. Turns out my jerk of a boss has been cheating on his wife. I was thinking about dropping these photos off and watching the mayhem unfold. Care to join me?"

Ryu grinned. "Sure." Seeing that bastard who'd made the last three Christmases Hell on him get his due sounded like a great idea.

* * *

From the safety of her car, Chun Li and Ryu watched as Chow received his divine retribution.

Chun Li did not call Chow's wife. She did one better. Instead, she visited his wife at their home. Marion Chow, Chow's wife thought that her husband was working on a important case and wouldn't be home until late that night.

What Chun Li didn't know was that Marion's father – who was a high-ranking officer in the Chinese military – and her brother – who was the proud owner of a Kung Fu school in the city – were also present.

When Chun Li presented them with the evidence of Chow's adultery, they were furious. Within minutes, Chow's wife and his in-laws were at the Hilton.

Minutes later, Chow came stumbling out of the hotel's front doors, bleeding and battered, with his enraged in-laws after him. The other woman, a pretty girl just out of university, followed, screaming at the two men to stop beating on Chow.

Then Chow's wife appeared and after a brief scuffle knocked the younger woman out cold. Chun Li and Ryu watched as Chow got his ass handed to him by his irate in-laws. Chow's wife even got in several blows.

"I guess they're not going to be sticking together," Ryu mused once the beat-down was over.

"Nope," Chun Li replied as she drove off smiling. "The bastard had it coming."

Ryu looked at the car's clock. "Think we can make it back to the hotel in under 10 minutes? I promised Ken that I would join him and Eliza for breakfast."

"Fair enough," Chun Li replied. "Then I can stop by the Genhanten and pay my respects to Sifu and the boys, as well as drop off their presents."

* * *

Inside the Masters International Kowloon's restaurant, Ken Masters took a seat beside his wife. Along with the couple were Ken's brother-in-law and his wife, William and Julia Guile. Guile's daughter, Amy, was back in the States, spending Christmas with her grandparents in Arizona.

"Any word?" Guile asked.

"Nope," Ken replied. "Nothing. It's not like Ryu to miss a meal."

"Maybe he decided to sleep in today," Eliza suggested.

Ken shook his head. "Are you kidding? The only thing that will stop Ryu in his tracks is free food. Trust me. I've known him for a long time."

Guile grunted as he took a long drink from his glass of water.

It was at that moment Ryu walked into the restaurant with Chun Li on his arm, which caused Guile to do an impressive spit-take, spraying water everywhere, shocked to see that Chun Li was actually with Ryu. Even Ken and Eliza was surprised to see Chun Li with Ryu. After all, they both thought that she would be working on Christmas Day, given Ryu grumbled about it last night.

Ryu and Chun Li took a seat in front of the two flabbergasted men and their wives. A passing waiter stopped at their table, allowing Ryu and Chun Li to place their orders as Ryu introduced Julia to Chun Li.

Ken was the first to get over his shock. "You came," he said. "I thought you would be working today."

Chun Li nodded. "Ryu invited me. As for working...I decided to take off today. Of course, my boss didn't take too kindly of that, and when he insulted my integrity and threatened my job, I resigned."

Guile and Ken's jaws dropped yet again. Chun Li had resigned from Interpol? Just what happened to her in the last 24 hours to cause such a turnaround?

"You can say I had an epiphany," Chun Li replied enigmatically. 'And I got the bruises to prove it,' she added as an afterthought. "All I wanted was to make my father proud of me with my job at Interpol. But that changed since the last tournament. I've now seen I've been working too much, and starting to push the people I care about away. So I had to change my outlook in life before it was too late."

As the three couples talked among breakfast, trading stories and the like, Ken looked at his friend. Ryu was a lot more happier when he was with Chun Li, a stark contrast to his usual stoic demeanor whenever he was fighting. He was mostly surprised at Chun Li's turnaround. She had gone from a workaholic to being more...carefree and happy.

Normal for Eliza and Julia, but not Chun Li.

"There's something I have to tell the both of you," Chun Li began as she sipped at her water. Once Guile and Ken had given her their attention, Chun Li spoke to them, telling her about her past. The Pan-American champion and the Air Force commando listened in rapt fascination as Chun Li revealed her past to Ken and Guile. Even Julia and Eliza were shocked to hear about the Chinese female's past concerning her parents and Dourai.

"Whoa," Ken said once Chun Li was finished. "No one else knew that you were adopted?"

"Several people knew," Chun Li admitted. "Ryu found out this morning when I told him." She paused for a moment as she looked at Ken and Guile. "Ken...William...I want to apologize to the both of you about how I acted towards the both of you these past few years. I consider you more than rivals in martial arts. I also consider the both of you as my friends." She bowed her head. "I am very sorry about my behavior, and ask for your forgiveness."

The two in-laws looked at Chun Li for a moment. Guile spoke first. "There's nothing to forgive. We all make mistakes and stumble from time to time." He looked at his wife, remembering how his obsession with Bison and Shadowlaw had nearly destroyed his marriage. "Believe me, I know that feeling first-hand."

Ken nodded at his brother-in-law's comment. "I agree with Will. There's more to life than fighting and working." He looked at Ryu. "I thought I was going to have to pound that idea into Ryu's skull until he told me that he was going to stop traveling and start teaching. I didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, he settled down at the old dojo and took on Sakura as his student."

As breakfast resumed with polite conversation, Ken looked at the reconciled couple. 'Maybe there's hope for those two after all,' he thought.

* * *

Before heading over to the Gen's place, Ryu and Chun Li made a side trip to her apartment. After picking up several presents for Gen and his two charges, they were on their way to the Genhanten.

Suffice to say, Gen was surprised to see Chun Li at his doorstep, along with Ryu, the latter holding a bundle of presents in his hands.

Yun and Yang bounded over to the older woman. "Auntie Li, you came!" they both chorused as they nearly tackled Chun Li in a group hug.

A smiling Chun Li managed to pry herself from the two teenagers as Gen approached. Chun Li then bowed to her former master. "Sifu. Merry Christmas."

Gen responded with a nod. "And to you," he replied before embracing the woman.

Ryu had managed to place the three items onto a table. "Master Gen," he greeted, bowing his head in reverence. "Good to see you're well."

"And you as well, young Ryu," Gen replied.

A smiling Chun Li handed Yun and Yang their gifts. "Here you go, boys. Merry Christmas." She then handed Gen a well-maintained book. "I found this inside a bookstore several days ago. I knew how much you liked reading Chinese poetry, and you didn't have this book in your collection."

Gen smiled as he accepted the gift. "Thank you, Chun Li."

Yun, in the meantime had gotten a brand-new skateboard while Yang received a new pair of rollerblades. "AWESOME! THANK YOU, AUNTIE LI!"

Ryu grinned to himself as he watched Yun and Yang nearly tackle Chun Li again in another hug.

'Family is a wonderful thing,' he thought. 'And I'm glad I've got her as part of mine.'

* * *

The next stop was a bittersweet one. Chun Li made a visit to a shrine, where she said a prayer for her father. Ryu remembered that Dourai's body was cremated, the ashes thrown into Hong Kong harbor in accordance to his will.

Following that stop, Chun Li took Ryu back to her apartment. The early morning activities had worn the pair out. Right now, they needed a break.

Ryu sat down on her couch, while Chun Li scooted next to him. "So what are you going to do concerning your former job?" he asked.

"I'll go up there and clean out my desk tomorrow," Chun Li replied. "Right now, I just want to relax for a while. When is the big Christmas Party?"

"Eight tonight."

Chun Li looked at her watch. "It's nine now, so we got plenty of time." She snuggled closer to Ryu, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Ryu nodded. "Fair enough. Can I ask you something, Li?"

"Shoot."

"Well," Ryu began nervously. "We've been seeing each other on-and-off since the last tournament, and I was thinking something of a long-term commitment now."

"How long-term?" Chun Li asked.

Ryu dug into his pocket. After a moment, he pulled out something and held it in his palm. Chun Li looked down at the item and gasped.

It was a ring. A simple gold band with a row of five diamonds inside the band. From the look of it, the ring was custom-made.

An engagement ring.

"I was thinking about twenty, maybe thirty years," Ryu suggested. "A house. Maybe run a dojo together. A couple of kids. Maybe a family pet."

Even though Chun Li knew this was coming, she was still shocked. "Is...is this your way of proposing to me?" she squeaked.

Ryu nodded. "I'm not that big of a traditionalist. But I do believe in marrying someone that holds a special place in your heart. So what do you say? Can this Dragon have you as his Spring Beauty forever?"

This he asked as he looked into her eyes, which were wide but not sad.

Chun Li then proceeded to put her boyfriend, now her fiancé, into a bear hug, smothering his face with numerous kisses. "Yes, Ryu," she whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Once she managed to peel herself off of Ryu, he slipped the ring on her finger. It was a perfect match.

"Even if I don't know where this life will take us, I know now I want to be with the man I love and who also loves me," Chun Li said as she looked at her ring. "This is beautiful. It must have cost you a lot of money."

"It was worth it," Ryu replied. "It was worth anything."

Chun Li smiled as she gave him another kiss.

* * *

Several hours passed.

Inside Chun Li's apartment, the reconciled couple were inside her bedroom, lying in her bed.

Ryu was pressed up against Chun Li's back, having shed the sweater, revealing his T-shirt underneath, whereas Chun Li's shirt was slightly undone, but with the exception of her socks and shoes, was still fairly clothed, despite the ensuing make-out session that occurred when they entered the bedroom.

After the couple's near-erotic activities, they decided to take a nap. Chun Li had woken up first. Ryu was still asleep, one hand wrapped around her torso protectively. She looked at her ring and smiled. She was happy. Happy that she was being given a second chance. Happy that Ryu had not given up on her.

The knock on the door interrupted her chain of thought. Curious as to who would be visiting her and Ryu, she gently untangled herself from Ryu's embrace, stepped out of bed and walked to the front door. Opening the door, she saw that there was no one on the other side. Poking her head out into the hallway, Chun Li saw that there was no one in the halls either.

Then she looked down.

There was a box at her doorstep. There was also a folded note on the lid. Chun Li unfolded it and read it. It was short and to the point.

_**Something for the party tonight. Knock 'em dead, Chun Li. You can change at the hotel. Your British friend has a room which is two doors down from Ryu's room on the right. Change there.**_

_**~Tenkai**_

She read the note again and smiled. 'Tenkai...thanks,' she thought as she picked up the box and closed her door. Looking at the clock, she realized that the party would begin in two hours.

Rushing back into her bedroom, she gently shook Ryu's shoulder. "Ryu! Get up! We need to get to the hotel!"

Ryu stirred in bed. He was still a hard sleeper. "Five more minutes, Sensei," he muttered in his sleep.

An evil thought came to her mind at that moment. "So you wanna play like that, huh?" she said as she ran out of the room. Minutes later, she returned with a glass of cold water in her hand. Without giving it a single thought or the consideration of giving her fiancé a warning, Chun Li upended the glass over Ryu's head.

"GAH! COLD!" Ryu shouted as he sat upright. He looked at Chun Li who looked rather innocent, despite holding an empty glass in her hand.

"Was that really necessary?" Ryu asked as he used the blanket to dry his head.

"What ever do you mean, husband-to-be?" Chun Li asked innocently.

"Your halo's crooked," Ryu remarked.

Chun Li rolled her eyes upward and adjusted the imaginary halo. "Really? Damn horns, always tilting my halo," she mused playfully.

She then squealed as Ryu grabbed her and threw her onto the bed, pinning her down. Chun Li wasn't resisting. "You know, we could skip the party and stay here," he suggested with an evil glint in his eyes. "They say that making up is fun to do."

"As much as the idea is so tempting," Chun Li replied, "I want to go to the party. I want to see the look on everybody's faces when I show up on your arm." She wiggled out from under him. "Get your clothes on. We're leaving in five minutes. That should give you more than enough time to prepare once you're back in your room."

Ryu nodded. After Chun Li placed the box and several items inside an overnight bag, she and Ryu left the apartment and returned to the Masters International Kowloon.

* * *

Masters International Kowloon, 30 minutes later...

Ryu looked at his reflection in his mirror. Instead of his gi, or even a formal men's kimono-hakama combination, he was dressed in a dark business suit and a pair of expensive dress shoes. The suit was obviously a Christmas gift from Ken, custom-made to fit his muscular frame. The suit was black, the shirt gray with the top button undone. His dark hair remained undone. Ryu was debating on whether or not to put the black-and-gray necktie on when there was a knock at the door.

"Alright, Masters, I'm coming," Ryu grumbled, still holding the necktie in his hand, assuming that the person in the hallway was his friend and sparring partner.

When he opened the door, his jaw practically hit the floor.

Chun Li stood before him, dressed in a black cheongsam dress with a red imprint of black cherry blossoms from top to bottom. The dress hugged her curvaceous frame ending several inches below her knees, showing off her shapely calves. A pair of stiletto heels were on her feet, the heels bringing her up to Ryu's height. Her hair was done up in her in a single bun and held in place with a pair of black lacquered chopsticks. She wore a little red eye shadow around her eyes and lip gloss, which enhanced her appearance. In one hand was a folded fan.

Ryu quickly recovered. "You...you look amazing," he said.

Chun Li smiled. "You cleaned up pretty good yourself," she replied, entering the room, closing the door behind her. She looked at the necktie in his hand. "You don't know how to tie a knot?"

"I do, but I'm debating on whether or not should I wear the tie."

Chun Li answered that question for him by plucking the necktie from his hand. Turning the collar upwards, she wrapped the two ends of the tie around his neck and began to expertly tie the knot.

"Let me guess, Dourai taught you how to tie a Windsor?" Ryu asked.

"Nope. Co-worker. I always hated tying these things."

"So why am I wearing this?"

Chun Li finished tying the knot. She then buttoned the top button and pulled the collar down before adjusting the tie. "Because it looks good on you," she replied. "And I told you already I want to see the look on everybody's face when we show up to the party."

"You think that will shock them," Ryu replied, "just wait when we tell them about our engagement."

* * *

The Christmas party was in full swing by the time Ryu and Chun Li had arrived at the ballroom, arms linked, a smile on both their faces. Of course, with the exception of Ken and Guile, most of the guests were indeed surprised when they saw Chun Li on Ryu's arm. They had expected her to be working through Christmas...again.

Dan Hibiki's niece, Ran, was there taking photos of the couples, having been hired by the Masters family for the occasion. Ryu and Chun Li were among the couples who had their picture taken.

Following the photoshoot, the couple ran into Ken and Eliza. Like the other guests, the host and hostess were dressed to impress, Ken also in a suit while Eliza was wearing a slinky black dress. Guile and Julia joined the two couples moments later, Guile smartly dressed in his formal Air Force dress uniform complete with rank and Julia in a more conservative evening dress.

Ken grinned at his brother-in-law. "You owe me fifty bucks, Will. I told you she was going to show with Ryu."

"Put it on my tab," Guile replied.

It was at that moment, Ken noticed the ring on Chun Li's finger. Ryu quickly saw Ken's expression and silenced him with a stare, while Eliza barely managed to restrain herself from squealing.

"Isn't that..." Guile began, blue eyes wide at what Chun Li had on her finger.

Chun Li nodded, her eyes shining. "He proposed to me this morning. I said yes."

"Congratulations to the both of you," Guile said, shaking Ryu's hand. "You've finally decided to take my advice."

"That one line about becoming a family man?" Ryu guessed.

Guile nodded. "Promise me that you will cherish her. If I find out you're doing her wrong, then I will come looking for you."

Ryu returned Guile's leveled look with his own. "Chun Li means a lot to me, Guile. You know that."

Ken slapped Ryu across the back. "Good work, man! I didn't know you had it in you! Of course, I'm the best man, for the wedding, right?"

Ryu shushed him. "Keep it down, will you? Chun Li and I are going to tell everyone later on tonight. No one finds out until we make the announcement."

The two couples nodded in the affirmative.

* * *

The party went on late into the night. As the Christmas party started to wind down, Ryu and Chun Li were seated at a table with Ken and Eliza when Chun Li turned to Ryu. "It's time," was all she said.

The engaged couple rose to their feet. "Everyone, can I have your attention, please?" she called out. Once the crowd was silent, Chun Li began to speak. "Ryu and I have an announcement to make. First, as of this morning, I resigned from the I.C.P.O."

Whispers and murmurs were heard throughout the crowd. They knew that Chun Li lived and breathed Interpol. It was a miracle in itself that Ryu wanted anything to do with her.

At that moment, Chun Li dropped the bombshell on the crowd.

"Second," Chun Li continued, raising her hand so that everyone can see the engagement ring, "this morning, Ryu asked for my hand in marriage. As you can see by the ring on my hand, my answer is yes. Ryu and I are now engaged."

The ensuing reactions from several of the guests were indeed priceless.

"Nani?!" went Guy, Rena, Dan Hibiki, and Edmond Honda. They'd never thought Ryu would have it in him to do this.

"No way!" sputtered Cody Travers after recovering from the spit-take he'd done as he heard the news.

"What?!" said 'Rainbow' Mika Nanakawa and Zangief in disbelief.

"Bloody Hell! Ryu's finally proposed to her!" said Cammy White with a stunned grin on her lips. 'She finally wised up and bagged Ryu!' she thought, then added, 'It's about bloody time you wised up, girl!'

"You owe me 200 bucks, Travers! I told you Ryu was going to propose to her!" whooped Maki Genryusai.

"Shaddup, Genryusai!" Cody snarled at the Bushin trainee as he was going to have a hard time explaining this to Jessica and her dad. He had thought given their track records that Maki was making a sucker bet. Little did he know he was the 'sucker' who made it with her.

Fei Long was munching on a piece of shrimp when Chun Li made the announcement. Of course, the piece of shrimp went down his windpipe instead of his throat. One forceful whack to the back of his throat from his date, a well-known musician and singer by the name of Eden Choi, freed the lodged piece of seafood from its prison.

"Thanks," he croaked out.

Once the shock had passed, the gathered audience broke out into polite applause, congratulating the newly-engaged couple.

Once the applause died down, Ryu spoke. "So far, we haven't decided on a date for the wedding. Chun and I have to talk about that once she relocates to Japan."

Once again, the audience – Ken and Guile included – were shocked by this revelation.

Chun Li smiled. "Ryu is correct. I'm moving in with him. We talked about opening a dojo together, and I needed a change in my life. I enjoy teaching, so I will co-own a dojo with my husband-to-be."

"You know what that means, do you Ryu?" Dan called out from the audience. "No more wandering the world."

"I've long since stopped that, Hibiki," Ryu replied. "I've been training my own student in martial arts for the past two years. I'm local now. I didn't plan on fighting forever. Like Chun Li, I also enjoy teaching martial arts. Of course, this doesn't mean that I will cease fighting altogether. I will, however, be much easier to find."

That got a laugh from the guests.

Ken then rose to his feet. "All right, everyone." He turned to Fei and his date. "Fei, can you talk your date into singing a song for our guests?"

Fei turned to his date. After a quick conversation in Chinese, Eden turned to the host. " I will sing," she replied in English. "Not because you requested that I do." She turned to Ryu and Chun Li. "But I will sing for them."

Ken shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough."

Ken was smart enough to have hired a live band. As Eden took to the stage, the couples took to the dance floor, the song Eden requested began to play. A slow, romantic love song Eden sang in English.

As Eden sang, Ryu and Chun Li danced. "I'm glad you decided to come with me," he said.

Chun Li smiled. "So am I. So what are we going to do about a wedding date?"

"We'll worry about that later on," Ryu replied. "The moment at hand is what matters right now."

"You're right about that," she replied as she felt Ryu cup her face with his hands.

They kissed as Eden continued her song. By this time, Ryu and Chun Li had stopped dancing and were pretty much enraptured with each other.

As Eden started on her second song, Ryu and Chun Li departed from the ballroom. Their absence was noticed by Ken and Eliza.

"I think things are going to be okay," Eliza said to her husband, smiling. "Ryu was so upset last night. I'm glad to see that they have reconciled. Those two are very alike in many ways."

"I think they're not going to wait for a honeymoon," Ken teased. "They are going to reaffirm their love for each other. And perhaps tonight we might do that as well?" He said with a wicked glint in his eyes. "William just might do the same with Julia."

Eliza stared at Ken. "It's Christmas, honey," Ken said at the look she gave him. "They're full of Christmas spirit, and I for one think they should share with each other. Just like we all could."

Eliza smiled. "Just as long as you keep that in mind, buster," she said as she goosed his behind. "'Cause I want some too." Then it was Ken's eyes that went wide.

* * *

The party had lasted well into the night. It was nearly 2:45 in the morning when Ryu and Chun Li decided to retire for the night. It was late and Chun Li had decided to retire for the night. Instead of going back to her apartment, Chun Li instead decided to stay with her fiancé.

As they entered Ryu's room, Chun Li was thankful that she had packed some undergarments, just in case something like this ended up happening.

Once the door was locked, Ryu turned to face his fiancée, only to have her grab his necktie, pulling her close to him. Ryu got the idea and decided to take it a step further.

He gently pinned Chun Li up against the door, right before kissing her passionately, the Chinese martial artist returning the kiss with equal passion.

"Remember what you said earlier about making up?" Chun Li asked after the kiss as she continued to play with Ryu's necktie in one hand.

"You want to get started?" Ryu grinned as he had an idea of what she had in mind. His hands went to the chopsticks in her hair and down came her bun, the black tresses coming down.

"Yeah," Chun Li smiled wickedly as she undid the necktie. "Let's unwrap our 'presents,' Ryu," she added as the tie went flying, one hand now at his pants.

After a furious 'unwrapping,' Ryu and Chun Li ended up between the sheets. Soon the dragon was enjoying the soft, female confines of his spring beauty as they went from human mind to primal rut. If anyone saw the two of them, it could be argued they had a lot of sexual frustration from the last 48 hours that needed to be let loose.

And after about two hours of sex where Chun Li found out how much of a horny her future husband was (and Ryu finding out how high and loudly his spring beauty could sing orgasm notes), it might even be argued that the two of them could rival Ken and Eliza.

But then they embraced each other warmly.

"My beautiful wife-to-be," Ryu said, his eyes now warm. "I love you so much."

"And I love you so much to, my handsome husband-to-be," Chun Li said as she kissed Ryu's lips.

Pulling the covers over each other, Ryu and Chun Li drifted off into sleep, happy for the first time in ages.

They dreamed of cloudless climes and starry skies together, where a dragon could soar with his spring beauty.

They dreamed of a wedding most folks thought would never take place until now.

They dreamed of a wedding night most hentai wished could come true sooner than expected.

But most of all, they dreamed of a life together. No longer apart as two fighters, but as one.

What fate joined, let nothing or nobody tear asunder.


	6. Epilogue: Absolution, or The End of It

**Epilogue: Absolution, or The End of It**

Ansatsuken-Wushu Dojo/Ryu and Chun Li's home, near Mihuzo, Japan

A year had passed.

Chun Li stood out on the lodge's front porch, leaning up against a wooden beam watching the snow flutter lazily to the ground in the compound's courtyard. Inside, she could hear Ryu and the other couples mingling with one another.

Ken had decided not to hold a Christmas party this year. Instead, Ryu had invited several of their friends and their wives for a small Christmas Eve party. Sakura was playing babysitter, keeping an eye on the twins and baby Mel as they slept upstairs.

Arms folded across her chest, Chun Li was lost in thought. 'Has it been a year already?' She looked at the ring on her finger before looking out into the snowy night. 'Amazing how one's life can can change in a year.'

Every once in a while, she would think about Tara and of her promise to change. Given the fact that she was now married with a family and a job that she enjoyed (although the freelance analyst was a nice side-gig), she felt like she had changed a lot indeed.

* * *

Hong Kong – one year earlier...

It was the day after Christmas, and inside a room inside the Masters International Kowloon, two people were under the covers. Their clothes – a suit and a dress – were strewn across the floor.

Ryu was flat on his back while Chun Li was resting her head on his broad shoulder. They began stirring and getting an appraisal of what happened.

"Good morning, future wife," Ryu said as he held Chun Li in his arms.

"Good morning...future husband," she replied with a smile.

They shared a lingering, passionate kiss, only separating due to a lack of air. Chun Li traced one slender finger against his jawline. "The rumors were true. Making up is fun to do," she mused. Her expression then fell as she remembered something. "Damn. I remembered that I've got to deal with Chow. He isn't going to like that I quit on him."

"Screw him," Ryu said. "You told me he was a bastard, and what he did in our lives is over."

"Can you come with me to the Interpol offices?" Chun Li said with a smile. "I want to show off my future husband after I hand in my resignation. Besides," she teased as she kissed his cheek, "I need you to help me clean out my office."

Ryu grinned. This was looking good.

* * *

The Interpol offices were a-twitter as they heard Chun Li Xiang had resigned. She was going to be married, and had the ring to prove it.

The girls there were amazed, and most people there were happy. The air of frantic frenzy that was jubilation broke out among them as they realized one of their own had "traded up" (and that piece of "Japanese Man Candy" Chun Li was given for Christmas looked pretty sweet indeed).

Well, almost everyone.

The Interpol brass had their best Inspector just resign, and even though they understood, they didn't like it.

Lieutenant David Chow looked at Chun Li with malice and venom. He was covered in bandages, his face swollen and bruised, one eye swollen shut, not to mention that one arm was in a sling. Aside from getting his ass kicked by his furious wife (make that soon-to-be ex wife) and his in-laws, Chow also found out that he was being investigated by the regional commanders on charges of abusing his authority.

He came up to Ryu and Chun Li. "So you're the bastard wanting to marry this ungrateful bitch, eh?" he said snidely.

If Chow had been looking at Ryu, he would have noticed the vein pulsing in his head. Several of the co-workers noticed and were wise enough to keep their distance.

"Nice to see you too, Chow," Chun Li said, deadpan. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"Thanks to you, no," went Chow as his anger built up. "First you tell me you're not coming in on a case I needed you on, then you practically tell me you resign, and my wife told me you came in with pictures that got me busted up as you see! Now, I'm to be investigated by the regional commanders on charges of abusing my authority." The man was pissed.

Chun Li sniffed. "Serves you right for cheating on your wife. Considering what could have happened, you got off lucky. If it were anyone else, they would have blackmailed you into submission. Be thankful that I took the easy way out."

Ryu stepped forward. "So you were the one who had Chun Li work the last two Christmases," Ryu said.

"What business is that of yours?" Chow snapped back.

"I wanted to know who made our lives hell the last two Christmases," Ryu said as he cocked back a fist. "So I could give him THIS!" he added as his fist glowed.

**WHAM!**

The powered fierce punch to the face sent Chow to the floor like a poleaxed steer. If Chow's nose wasn't broken, it sure was now.

"You-you bastard!" Chow sputtered as he held his nose. "I'll have you arrested for assault!"

"What assault?" Ryu shot back as he cracked his knuckles. Behind him, Chow's subordinates acted like they have not seen anything.

Ryu reached down and grabbed Chow by his shirt and lifted him clean from the ground. The Ansatsuken fighter then pinned him against the wall. Chow was unable to touch the ground, since Ryu had him in the air. Ryu looked down and noticed a wet spot on Chow's crotch.

"Disgusting," he commented. "You insult me, I have no problem with that. However, you called my fiancée a bitch. So unless you want to become an organ donor, I think an apology is in order."

If Chow wasn't scared, he was now. He managed to squeak out, "I apologize, Chun Li. I apologize."

Ryu tossed his down like a rag doll. Chow then made what was the most important decision of the day.

He ran out of the office, petrified for his life.

"Now THAT he had coming," Chun Li said.

A few of the ladies in the room let up cheers and catcalls.

"Easy ladies," Chun Li smiled. "He's mine."

A dejected "Aww..." came from them.

"Let's get your office cleaned out," Ryu said. "Then get ready for a new life."

"You're welcome anytime at my place, but it will take me a while to get things settled here," Chun Li said. "But then I'll be with you forever."

"And I you," Ryu said as he cradle-swept Chun Li into his arms, causing his fiancée to laugh in delight.

It was at that moment, the radio was currently playing the song 'Up Where We Belong.' As Ryu and Chun Li entered her office, one of the female employees turned it up on the radio.

It had taken the engaged couple almost an hour to clean out her belongings. Once her office was cleared out, Chun Li turned in her I.C.P.O. badge and left the Interpol Offices for the last time as an Inspector.

* * *

Ryu and Chun Li celebrated the New Year in Hong Kong. Then they started to pack her belongings, which thankfully wasn't many. Mostly clothes, which were shipped to Ryu's home in Japan. Chun Li's former co-workers had thrown her a going-away party the night before she and Ryu left for Seoul, where Ryu planned on competing in a martial arts tournament.

Chun Li promised that she would come and visit. After all, Gen and the boys were still in Hong Kong, not to mention that she also enjoyed competing in several martial arts tournaments in the city as well.

* * *

Seoul, South Korea – several days later...

Chun Li frowned to herself. 'I guess this was supposed to happen sooner or later,' she thought. 'Either way, I'm starting to hate hospitals.'

It was supposed to be a innocent side trip. They had stopped in Seoul for two days since Ryu was competing in a martial arts tournament in the city. While they stayed in Seoul, they had stopped by a jewelery store, where Ryu had picked out a wedding band for himself.

The reason why they were currently inside a hospital room was the fact that following the tournament, the couple had ran into a certain psychotic claw-wielding Spanish Ninja outside the arena. In the ensuing fight, Vega was defeated (and his face left battered and bruised), but Ryu had suffered several nasty cuts in the ensuing match.

Which was why they were inside a hospital room. Ryu's torso and arm were bandaged. The cuts thankfully were not deep, but it meant that Ryu would be out of action for several weeks.

'And that means you-know-who is going to show up,' Chun Li thought, wondering how this scene between herself, Ryu and Juli will play out this time around.

Sure enough, Juli entered the room. Almost immediately, Ryu and Juli recognized each other.

Juli spoke first. "Ryu Hoshi. It's been a while. The last time we met, we were on opposite sides."

"Juli," Ryu grunted. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Dr. Gilyard to you," Juli replied. "As to why I am here, it's obvious. I'm a doctor now. Let's just say that I wish to atone for my past crimes as an assassin." She looked at Chun Li. "And you have the illustrious Inspector Xiang with you."

"I'm no longer with Interpol," Chun Li said as Juli began to stitch up Ryu. "I resigned on Christmas Day."

"That's a shocker," Juli replied as her eyes went wide briefly. She then noticed the ring on Chun Li's finger. "Nice ring. You're engaged?"

Chun Li nodded. "I am. The man you're stitching up my fiancé."

"Congratulations to the both of you," Juli replied. "Although I'm surprised to find out that you're engaged to Mr. 'The-Fight-Is-Everything.'"

"I'm not that obsessed with fighting anymore," Ryu said in his defense. "I've somewhat mellowed since our last run-in."

Juli smiled as she finished her triage work on Ryu. "Well, either way, congratulations on your engagement,"she said. "You may see me in Japan soon enough. I've accepted a teaching position down at Waseda,teaching medical science. Either way, Ryu, you must not fight or train for at least a month. You need some time to heal."

"After getting attacked by that psycho, I'm sure you're right," Ryu said, wincing a little. "I keep getting reminded that claw hurts. I guess I should be glad he didn't coat it with poison, since he sometimes licks the claw as well."

"At least you're around and able to talk about it," Chun Li said to that. "Some aren't around or can't or don't talk."

Juli had taken out a small pad of paper and scribbled on it. She then flipped the page and scribbled some more. Tearing both pages off, Juli gave them to Ryu.

"These should help keep you from getting infected, and help manage the pain," Juli said as she put the pad back in her lab coat. "There's a pharmacy close by here, so get these filled. The sooner you start and adhere to the treatment, the faster your recovery."

"Certainly, Doctor," Ryu said, with a nod as he saw folks around them. "I'll do as you say."

"And make sure he keeps off his usual routine at least a month, okay?" Juli said to Chun Li with a smile.

"Certainly, Doctor," Chun Li said, now smiling back. "I'll keep him healthy."

"Then if that's all," Juli said as she helped Ryu to his feet, "I'll get you to sign a few forms and we can get you discharged."

"Should we get him looked at again in that month to make sure he's healing okay?" Chun Li asked.

"That would be good," Juli said. "By then he should be able to have the stitches taken out without problems." She then patted Ryu's shoulder. "Just don't go around trying to tough things out until you get re-checked in Japan."

"I won't, Doctor," Ryu nodded amiably.

* * *

Ansatsuken Dojo/Ryu and Chun Li's home - near Mizuho, Japan, several days later...

Ryu's home was located on the grounds of Suzaku Castle, the massive training hall and the adjoining two-story lodge that Ryu and Ken had built following the last tournament. Aside the massive lake and if one should go up into the mountains, the waterfall where Ryu and Ken had trained in their teenage years.

The location of the dojo and home was also beneficial for Ryu. Given its location on the grounds of Suzaku Castle, and the fact that through research into his parents' lineage, he saw that he was a member of a minor branch of the Suzaku clan. As a result, the Japanese government had paid him a nice little price for the property and made Suzaku Castle a national landmark.

That and he was exempt from paying taxes on the property, thanks to some negotiating on Ken's part.

Chun Li looked around the property. 'This is my home now,' she thought as she watched Ryu perform menial exercises, taking great care not to bust open his stitches.

Chun Li had settled in with Ryu with no problems. She had also taken great pleasure in becoming his de facto nurse, helping him recover from his injuries at the hands of Vega.

During this time, Ryu had introduced his student to his fiancée. Sakura was surprised to find out that her mentor and teacher was now engaged, but was happy for the older man. Chun Li and Sakura had hit it off and she became Sakura's de facto teacher, giving her several pointers in martial arts.

* * *

Two weeks after Chun Li's arrival in Japan, she and Ryu were inside the dojo. Ryu was dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of black gi pants. He was doing several menial stretches while in a split. He was watching Chun Li train.

Clad in her one-piece jumpsuit, Chun Li was working over a Wing Chun practice dummy she had imported from China when Sakura entered the dojo.

"Hey, Ryu, there's someone here for you," the Ansatsuken apprentice said.

Curious as to who would want to see him, Ryu stepped outside. Chun Li followed him.

Juli was standing there. She was dressed in a black tanktop which was visible underneath her jacket, and matching cargo pants and heavy hiking boots. Her hair was in her customary bun and she looked all business.

Chun Li stepped out into the courtyard. "Dr. Gilyard. What brings you to our home?" she asked.

"I was in the area and I decided to drop by and see how my patient is healing up," Juli replied. "You have been keeping him healthy, haven't you?"

Chun Li nodded. "I have. He's been performing some exercises and stretches. Nothing serious."

Juli smiled. "That's good to hear."Her smile then changed to a more smug expression. "There is a second reason as to why I have come here. I never got a chance to fight you when I was a Doll, Chun Li. I personally want to see if you can back up that claim of 'The Strongest Woman on Earth.'"

Chun Li frowned. She did have quite an ego back in the tournament. She hadn't used that title for a while now. But something clicked inside of her head.

Juli was challenging her to a match.

Chun Li smiled. "Is that a challenge?" When Juli nodded, Chun Li replied, "Fine. I accept." She gestured to the dojo. "After you."

Juli returned the smile and stepped inside the dojo, taking great care to remove the boots from her feet before entering. Chun Li followed close behind, as did Ryu and Sakura.

Juli was already stretching inside the dojo, the jacket placed neatly to the side. Chun Li also began to stretch. After a few moments, they both faced Ryu and bowed, before bowing to each other.

"Chun Li, ready?" Ryu asked.

Chun Li nodded as she assumed her fighting stance.

"Juli, ready?"

Juli nodded as she took her own stance.

Ryu raised one hand, then brought it down. "Ready...GO!"

* * *

Ten minutes later...

The two bruised women were seated inside the lodge's living room, Ryu and Sakura among them, both tending to their injuries. Despite their injuries, they both were grinning broadly, pleased with themselves,knowing full well that they had not held back in their match.

Too bad the match ended in a draw.

At least the injuries were not too severe. Both women were battered and bruised. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but both women were sporting icepacks on their bruises, courtesy of Ryu and Sakura.

"Ow..." Chun Li winced. "You do hit hard for a former Shadowlaw doll. Just like Cammy."

Juli grinned in response. "You're no slouch yourself, Chun Li. You really can back up that claim."

"To tell you the truth," Chun Li replied as she dabbed at her busted lip."I stopped using that title for a while now. You can say that I have quite an ego back then."

"You still do," Ryu replied.

Chun Li responded by chucking the icepack at Ryu, only to have her fiancé catch it and toss it back at her. The pain returned as Chun Li applied the icepack back onto her head.

Juli looked at this exchange with a bemused expression on her face.

"You're not helping," Chun Li scolded. "You're supposed to be supporting me."

Ryu shrugged his shoulders. "I am helping," he defended.

Juli cleared her throat. "If you two are finished, I would like to inspect Ryu's stitches. Ryu, please sit down and remove your shirt."

Ryu did as he was told, allowing Juli to inspect the stitches."Well...you're healing up well,"Juli noted with a smile. "Is the medicine helping?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah. The painkillers worked wonders too."

"Good to know," Juli said. "The stitches should be ready to come out in a couple of months. I even amaze myself."

"Juli."

The assassin-turned-doctor turned to Chun Li. "Yes?"

"I never said thank you for tending to my fiance," Chun Li replied.

Juli smiled gently. "And you never have to. It's my job. I took an oath to help people." She paused for a moment. "But if you really want to thank me, Chun Li, then grant me a rematch once you healed up."

Chun Li liked the sound of that. "You're on, Doc."

That's how it all started. Just like Ken and Ryu, Chun Li had developed a friendly rivalry with Juli. Soon, the two became fast friends. Chun Li had some concerns about being friends with a former Shadowlaw operative, much less the former commander of the Shadowlaw Elite Squad, but in the end, it had worked out very well.

* * *

The wedding was a private affair, unlike Ken and Eliza's wedding. The wedding was a Western-style ceremony inside the Masters International Kowloon's ballroom.

Ryu and Chun Li had settled on a date: February 24, two months after Ryu had proposed to her (and nearly two weeks after Ken's birthday –Valentine's Day). Ken was the best man, standing in the same spot Ryu had been at his own wedding three years earlier. Eliza was the maid of honor and Gen had the honor of giving Chun Li away.

The wedding went off without a single hitch. No one dared to oppose Ryu marrying Chun Li, not after what had happened on Christmas Eve when they had made their engagement (and Chun Li's resignation from Interpol) known.

Ryu and Chun Li had invited friends and family only. Even Chun Li's former co-workers had attended, since Chun Li had invited them.

As for Chow, his wife had divorced him and he was stripped of his position. The last anyone heard of him he was somewhere in Beijing, pushing paperwork (as Chun Li had said he had in Hong Kong).

They spent their honeymoon in Manihi. After three weeks, they returned to Japan. Once the immigration papers were taken care of, Chun Li was a full-fledged citizen of Japan. With the citizenship issue out of the way, the Ansatsuken-Wushu School of Martial Arts was open for business.

Given the number of Chinese immigrants in the town of Mizuho, Chun Li became immensely popular with the townspeople, as was Ryu.

* * *

"You want to go back into law enforcement?" Ryu repeated as he and Chun Li closed up the dojo for the evening. This had taken him by surprise.

"Not full-time," Chun Li replied. "Several of my friends here were telling me that freelancing for the Ministry of Investigation pays pretty well. And one of my duties back in Interpol was that of a criminal and forensics analyst. It's pretty fun."

Ryu frowned. "I thought you said you were finished with playing detective, especially after that bastard almost ruined our lives."

Chun Li sighed. "I thought so too. But my friend told me about the benefits of working freelance. I make my own hours, the pay is nice and there are less headaches."

"What about the supervisors? Any one like Chow who'll be an ache in a lot of places?"

Chun Li laughed. "No, thank God. If there were I'd have said no right off. I wanted to talk to you about it before I made my decision. You don't have to worry about my end of the dojo. I will work only on my days off."

"And what about the weekend?"

"That's our time, silly," Chun Li reassured him. "Ryu...you promised me that you would stop traveling the world once we were married. So far, you have honored that promise. Now, the tables have turned." She looked down at her belly, which had begun to swell. "I promise you on the life of our unborn child that I will not let this job come between us. Please let me have this."

"Okay, okay," Ryu conceded. "You can work the freelancing gig."

"Thanks!" Chun Li replied as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek. "You won't regret this!"

"I hope not, Li."Ryu touched a hand to her belly. "I couldn't take it if you or our child would get hurt. Chalk it up to being a concerned husband and future father who finally felt his life coming together. Because I love you both so much."

"Okay, 'baba,'" Chun Li said, "we'll keep out of the front lines."

Within months, Chun Li Xiang had taken a job as a freelance analyst for the Japanese Ministry of Investigation. As promised, she was called only for some of the more difficult cases, giving her input and sometimes assisting the local police department in helping with their cases. She also stayed enough out of the lines of fire so not to endanger herself and her child (to keep her husband from getting too concerned).

In time, Chun Li had built a reputation for being a just and fair analyst. So great was her reputation that even the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads, both traditional enemies, appealed to her to settle an internal dispute, which Chun Li did with great success.

Chun Li did not let her newfound success go to her head. She remained humble to a degree, a lesson she had learned the hard way on that Christmas Eve. Following the last tournament, Chun Li had grown somewhat brash and arrogant, yet still commanded the admiration and respect of her fellow agents. Now, married life and running a dojo  
had mellowed the former Interpol agent down to a tee.

* * *

It was while she was in Tokyo some eight months later that it happened. Chun Li's water had broken and she was rushed to the hospital. Ryu himself was notified and he rushed to the hospital with all deliberate speed.

Nineteen nail-biting hours later, it was finally over. Chun Li had been put through hell, but in the end, she was given her wish.

She now had a family to call her own.

Ryu was in for a shock when he was allowed to see his wife the following morning. She was holding two newborn children in her arms, each dressed in blue and pink respectively. She was pale from the loss of blood, but she would live.

Ryu pulled a chair close to his wife and sat down next to her. The two children were asleep. Chun Li, however, was awake.

Ryu got over his initial shock. He was the father of twins. Fraternal twins, to be precise. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," she replied softly. She looked at the two bundles in her arms. "Say hello to your children."

"I thought that there was only one child," Ryu said as he gently took his newborn son into his arms.

"We both did," Chun Li replied. She looked at her daughter "I want to name her Tara Sawa Hoshi. What do you want to name our son?"

Ryu thought about it for a moment. "We'll name him after me. Ryunosuke Shun Hoshi." he replied simply.

Chun Li smiled. "Fine." She then stared at her husband, as what he had just said clicked inside her mind. "Ryunosuke? Your real name is Ryunosuke?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah. Now you see why I like the shortened version better."

The news had spread like wildfire. Chun Li had given birth to two healthy twins. At the same time, Eliza had given birth to her and Ken's child. Ken and Eliza had decided on a name: Mel Kenneth Masters. The three children were born six hours apart from one another.

* * *

Chun Li had hoped that Guile and Cammy would not ask for her help for the imminent raid on the Shadowlaw safehouse back in Hong Kong.

But sure enough, they did.

Ryu was not happy with what Guile and Cammy had asked of his wife.

The couple and the two commandos were seated inside the lodge's living room, talking over tea. Nearby, in a bassinet, Ryu, Jr. and Tara were fast asleep.

"So let me get this straight," Chun Li said once Guile and Cammy had finished their proposal. "You want me to return to Hong Kong to take part in a raid against a Shadowlaw safehouse, right?"

Guile nodded. "That's the gist of it. The raid is going to take place in less than 72 hours."

Chun Li thought about it. "No. I'm no longer a field agent. I'm done with that part of my life. Maybe back when I was in Interpol, yeah..." She turned and looked at her children. "But now...being a mother changes your outlook in life. You got to decide on what is important to you and to your family."

"We know that you are a devoted mother," Cammy said, playing the diplomatic role, "but you seem to misunderstand what we are asking. Guile and myself are taking the risks of actively participating in the raid itself. We want you there as a combat analyst."

Chun Li looked at Guile, who nodded. "You were recommended by the Japanese Ministry of Investigation, as well as by the Tokyo offices of Interpol," he continued. "Your expertise in field analysis can be of great use in this case."

Chun Li looked at her husband, whose expression simply read, 'Do what you must.'

Turning back to her friends, Chun Li nodded. "Fine. I'll do it."

* * *

The raid went down hours after Chun Li had arrived in Hong Kong with Guile and Cammy. This time, however, Chun Li was not an active participant. Instead, she ran logistics from a armored trailer two blocks from the safehouse.

This time around, the raid was a complete success. Over twenty suspects were in custody, no agents were killed. Ten suspects were killed, while one of the agents ended up injured. The agent would recover. What astounded Guile and Cammy was the fact that Chun Li somehow...**knew **what was going to happen beforehand. Cammy was almost out of ammo in her gun when Chun Li had ordered her to switch to her assault rifle. Good thing Cammy did, since she took out one guy behind her and a second who narrowly missed her with his own shot to the head, striking him in his left eye, killing him instantly.

When questioned about how Chun Li knew how the raid was going to play out, Chun Li merely replied, "Women's intuition," and said nothing else.

The following day, she was recognized in a private ceremony for her work in th raid, as were Guile and Cammy. Hours later, she was on a flight back to Japan.

* * *

Present Day.

Chun Li was so wrapped up in her personal thoughts that she didn't notice her husband standing behind her until she felt his arms wrap around her torso. Chun Li sighed as she leaned back into the embrace, not craning her neck to look at her husband.

"Something wrong, Li?" Ryu asked.

Chun Li shook her head. "No. I needed some time to think about some things." She paused for a moment. "Thinking about what I have become in the past year. Ryu...tell me that I am a good person."

"You are a very good person," Ryu replied, holding her even tighter, giving her a kiss on the shoulder. "You're the mother of my children, my loving wife and my teaching partner. I wouldn't have married you if I thought you were not a good person. I love you despite your flaws."

"Thank you," Chun Li replied.

In the distance, Chun saw something.

Near the open courtyard gates, were four figures, partially visible in the falling snow. Two men and two women. One was dressed in a female Interpol uniform, the second in a policeman's service dress uniform. The last two were dressed in Maoist clothing.

Only Chun Li could see them. Ryu could not.

Chun Li narrowed her eyes before gasping silently as she recognized the four.

The specters were those of her friend, her adopted father and of her real parents. All four spirits had smiles on their faces.

'Tara...thank you for warning me about my ways,' Chun Li thought. 'I have kept my promise.' She then looked at Dourai. 'Baba...I know you're here with me, but I still miss you.' To her parents, Chun Li thought, 'Mama...Papa...I wish I got the chance to know you better. I love you all.'

Dourai nodded in approval while Tara waved at the former Interpol detective. Her parents held each other close as her father and mother also waved at their daughter.

Chun Li smiled to the spirits as a gust of wind and snow enveloped the spectral forms, making them vanish completely.

"Ryu?"

Ryu looked down at his wife. "Hmm?"

"Let's go back inside. I think I have neglected our guests long enough."

"Couldn't agree with you more," Ryu replied. "I'm freezing."

"Freezing? You?" Chun Li teased. "The big bad Street Fighter champion is afraid of a little cold."

"What can I say? My bravado is a bunch of B.S.," Ryu replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Chun Li laughed as she allowed Ryu to lead her back inside the house. Taking a seat amongst their guests, Chun Li felt a wave of content wash over her, knowing that there was a life outside of being a detective, as Ryu had found out that there was more than just The Fight.

Chun Li had found her absolution at last.

End.

A.N.: This was a blast to write, although I (The Headcrook) had to put Kasumi's Restaurant and Fight 1/2 Origins on hold until I managed to complete this. Now that this story is over, I can resume work on my other pieces of fanfiction.

Dedicated to the memory of Matthew 'CRITICAL' Archie.

September 23, 1991-December 18, 2008.

Your memory will live on.


End file.
